Trip Highlights:
For waterfall lovers that can handle an uphill climb, the Mist Trail & Nevada Fall Loop Day Hike is for you! This hike gets you right up next to two of Yosemite’s most well known waterfalls, Vernal and Nevada Falls. You will complete your circle and return to the valley via the famous John Muir Trail offering new perspectives of the waterfalls you just hiked beside. All tours are private.
All Tours Are Private
You will receive a full refund if you cancel within 48 hours of the original booking date.
Book with confidence, knowing you can cancel for any reason 30 days before your trip date and receive a full, lifetime, transferable credit.
Not sure if your current trip dates work? Rest assured, you can change your trip date as many times as needed, provided you do so 30 days before both the current and the new trip dates, subject to our guide’s availability.
Meeting Location: Curry Village Tour Kiosk at 4,035′
High Point: Panorama Trail Junction at 5,997′
Mileage and Elevation Gain/Loss: 7 miles, +/- 2,105′
For a detailed map with elevation profile of the tentative itinerary, click here: Map.
To start off the day, you will meet your guide at 8 a.m. at the Curry Village Tour Kiosk in Yosemite Valley. After brief introductions, safety warnings and precautions, and a brief overview of the day, we will begin the hike warming up with a sociable, short, flat and paved mile to the Mist Trail trailhead near Happy Isles visitor center. This is where the uphill charge begins.
From Happy Isles, it is a strenuous mile trek on a paved trail to the base of Vernal Fall, where there will be public restrooms and running water for use. The next ½ mile following takes us up a steep and strenuous misty, granite staircase alongside 317-foot Vernal Fall, ascending a quick 400 vertical feet. Be prepared to get wet during this long but gorgeous half mile. Reaching the top of the stair-like Mist Trail brings us atop Vernal Fall where you will see the stunning waterfall from nearly every possible perspective. After admiring the gorgeous scenery and a brief history of the area, we will continue another strenuous mile ascending 600 vertical feet to reach the top of the 594-foot Nevada Fall. This mile brings us alongside the waterfall up a more strenuous and less distinct granite staircase than the first, but will luckily be our last rocky hiking of the day. We will enjoy a relaxation break here at the top of the powerful Nevada Fall, taking time to enjoy the unmatched natural landmarks and sites from our vantage point as we eat lunch.
We will continue on an easy and flat ½ mile or so to the John Muir Trail/Panorama Trail Junction, where we will conquer our last uphill trek. From here, we descend 2,000 feet along the 3.5-mile-long John Muir Trail.
The John Muir trail follows the Merced River from the south, whereas the Mist Trail stays north of the river. The higher vantage John Muir Trail offers unique perspectives of Nevada Fall, the abrupt rise of Liberty Cap, and the South face of the famous Half Dome, and is a much less stressful hike down than that of the rocky staircases of the Mist Trail. The John Muir Trail will return us to the bridge at the base of Vernal Fall where you will once again find public restrooms and running water. The next mile backtracks us a mile down the familiar paved trail to Happy Isles. Once in Happy Isles, we will cool down with a short mile alongside the valley’s road to Curry Village, where our day will end right where it began.
Your participation helps sustain our non-profit mission of supporting youth, families, and disadvantaged communities with positive experiences in America’s National Parks and natural spaces.
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