Day Hiking in Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park is an impressive collection of massive trees, massive waterfalls, and massive cliff faces. The famous Yosemite Valley is lined with steep cliff faces with famous names such as Half Dome and El Capitan towering above. Waterfalls crash to the valley floor from these great heights.

It’s also home to the Giant Sequoias which dwarf Yosemite’s collection of huge Douglass Fir, Ponderosa Pine, and Sugar Pine. In the High Sierra to the north, a unique landscape of alpine meadows and jagged peaks are a delight.

There are trails that take you to all of these wonderful, natural spectacles. Below are 78 day hikes that I’ve identified and ranked for my Day Hikes of Yosemite National Park Map Guide.

The ranking is my recommendation based upon what I feel gives you the most “bang for your buck” starting with the iconic hike up to the top of Half Dome. Click each trail name to learn more about the hike. All of this information and more is included in the Day Hikes of Yosemite National Park Map Guide. It’s the best map for day hiking in Yosemite that cuts through the clutter of all of the options. It includes distances between junctions, color coded trail segments denoting slope steepness, and much more on one side and a guide on the back of the map. Pick one up to take with you on the trail!

Areas are as follows:

  • Crane Flat
  • Glacier Point
  • Hetch Hetchy
  • Tioga Road
  • Tuolumne Meadows
  • Yosemite Valley
  • Wawona

Click on table headers to sort by those columns!

RankNameDistance GroupArea
1Half Dome15+Yosemite Valley
2Glacier Point0-5Glacier Point
3Lower Yosemite Fall0-5Yosemite Valley
4Nevada Fall Loop5-10Yosemite Valley
5Yosemite Falls5-10Yosemite Valley
6Four Mile and Panorama10-15Yosemite Valley
7Bridalveil Fall0-5Yosemite Valley
8Upper & Lower Mariposa10-15Wawona
9Clouds Rest10-15Tioga Road
10Panorama Trail5-10Glacier Point
11Sentinel Dome/Taft Point Loop5-10Glacier Point
12North Dome5-10Tioga Road
13Cathedral Lakes5-10Tuolumne Meadows
14Waterwheel Falls15+Tuolumne Meadows
15Vogelsang High Sierra Camp10-15Tuolumne Meadows
16Mount Hoffman5-10Tioga Road
17Vernal Fall0-5Yosemite Valley
18Four Mile Trail0-5Glacier Point
19Ostrander Lake10-15Glacier Point
20Lembert Dome0-5Tuolumne Meadows
21Pothole Dome0-5Tuolumne Meadows
22Gaylor Lakes0-5Tuolumne Meadows
23Wapama Falls0-5Hetch Hetchy
24Glen Aulin10-15Tuolumne Meadows
25Ten Lakes10-15Tioga Road
26Lower Mariposa Grove0-5Wawona
27May Lake0-5Tioga Road
28Mono Pass5-10Tuolumne Meadows
29Elizabeth Lake0-5Tuolumne Meadows
30Lukens Lake0-5Tioga Road
31Stanford Point10-15Glacier Point
32Dewey Point5-10Glacier Point
33Sentinel Dome0-5Glacier Point
34Olmsted Point0-5Tioga Road
35Lower Gaylor Lake0-5Tuolumne Meadows
36Chilnualna Falls5-10Wawona
37Taft Point & The Fissures0-5Glacier Point
38Rancheria Falls10-15Hetch Hetchy
39Spillway Lake5-10Tuolumne Meadows
40Ireland Lake15+Tuolumne Meadows
41Lyell Canyon – Short5-10Tuolumne Meadows
41Lyell Canyon15+Tuolumne Meadows
42Dog Lake0-5Tuolumne Meadows
43Grant Lakes10-15Tioga Road
44El Capitan15+Tioga Road
45Sunrise Lakes5-10Tioga Road
46Soda Springs0-5Tuolumne Meadows
47Mirror Lake Loop0-5Yosemite Valley
48Pohono Trail10-15Glacier Point
49Young Lakes10-15Tuolumne Meadows
50Twin Bridges of Lyell Fork0-5Tuolumne Meadows
51Smith Peak10-15Hetch Hetchy
52Mirror Lake0-5Yosemite Valley
53Tenaya Lake0-5Tuolumne Meadows
54Cook’s Meadow Loop0-5Yosemite Valley
55Illilouette Fall5-10Glacier Point
56Carlon Falls0-5Crane Flat
57Merced Grove0-5Crane Flat
58Mount Starr King View0-5Glacier Point
59Tuolumne Grove0-5Crane Flat
60Kibbie Lake10-15Hetch Hetchy
61Lookout Point0-5Hetch Hetchy
62Foresta Falls0-5Crane Flat
63Snow Creek Trail5-10Yosemite Valley
64Inspiration Point0-5Yosemite Valley
65Valley Loop Trail – Half Loop5-10Yosemite Valley
66Valley Loop Trail10-15Yosemite Valley
67Polly Dome Lakes5-10Tioga Road
68Swinging Bridge0-5Wawona
69McGurk Meadow0-5Glacier Point
70Poopenaut Valley0-5Hetch Hetchy
71Crane Flat Lookout0-5Crane Flat
72Wawona Meadow Loop0-5Wawona
73Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River5-10Tioga Road
74Harden Lake5-10Tioga Road
75O’Shaughnessy Dam to Tuolumne River0-5Hetch Hetchy
76Falls on Alder Creek10-15Wawona
77Yosemite Creek0-5Tioga Road
78Cascade Creek from Tamarack CG0-5Tioga Road