Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls – Yosemite National Park

Hiking Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls in Yosemite National Park

 This hike offered one of the best views of our Yosemite trip from a small section of the John Muir Trail looking back at Nevada Falls.

Hike Date: August 13, 2021

Stats

0
Miles
0 ft
Elevation Gain
0
Hours
0
Minutes

Route

Segment Distance

Total Distance

Route Description

0 mi0 miStart at Mist Trail and John Muir Trailhead
1.8 mi1.8 miMist Trail to the top of Vernal Falls
1.3 mi3.1 miMist Trail to John Muir Trail
0.2 mi3.3 miJohn Muir Trail to the top of Nevada Falls
2.6 mi5.9 miJohn Muir Trail down to Mist Trail
0.6 mi6.5 miMist Trail back to trailhead

Map

The National Park Service offers some other hiking route options on their Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall Trails page. The Yosemite Valley Hiking Map may also be useful for your planning.

Getting a Yosemite Valley Campsite

Staying at Upper Pines Campground gave us the opportunity to hike to Vernal and Nevada Falls right from our campsite. That said, getting a site at Upper Pines was not easy! Booking a campsite in Yosemite Valley (Upper Pines, Lower Pines, and North Pines) is incredibly competitive. Campsites become available 5 months in advance starting on the 15th of that month at 7am Pacific time. Sounds confusing right? Luckily, the National Park Service made a convenient chart to clarify this on their Yosemite Camping Reservations page. We logged in and snagged a campsite right away before they were all reserved in a matter of minutes. 

Mist Trail to Vernal Falls

At about 8:30 am, we walked towards the end of Upper Pines Campground where the volunteers stayed and took a little shortcut through the woods towards Mist Trail to start the hike. The beginning of Mist Trail was a paved walkway with a mild but fairly constant incline. We crossed a bridge where there were water stations to fill up and Yosemite employees seated to answer any questions. From there, the trail turned left and we started climbing up steep sets of rock stairs to the top of Vernal Falls.

Mist Trailhead sign
Start of Mist Trail
Walking the paved path to start Mist Trail
Walking the paved path to start Mist Trail
Bridge on Mist Trail
Bridge on Mist Trail
Approaching the rock stairs on Mist Trail
Approaching the rock stairs

During our climb up, we had complete, unobstructed views of Vernal Falls. There were many places to stop and take pictures and videos along the way, or just stop to rest and catch your breath. 

Rock stairs winding up next to Vernal Falls
Rock stairs winding up next to Vernal Falls
Vernal Falls
Vernal Falls

The last stretch of rock stairs is carved into a pretty sheer cliff with guard rails to stop you from falling off. At the top of the falls, there is a wide open ledge, hemmed in by railings for safety, to lounge and enjoy the views. 

Last stairs to the top of Vernal Falls
Last stairs to the top
Open area at the top of Vernal Falls
Open area at the top of Vernal Falls
View atop Vernal Falls
View atop Vernal Falls

Continuing to Nevada Falls

The vast majority of visitors stop at the top of Vernal Falls, but we continued up the Mist Trail to Nevada Falls. We left the crowds behind and along with just a few other hikers, we continued on the trail. After we crossed a small bridge, we entered a short wooded section and soon caught our first glimpse of Vernal Falls. Since there was a severe drought in California, the falls were not as strong as we expected, but the water was still flowing. 

Bridge along a hiking trail
Bridge along the trail
First view of Nevada Falls
First view of Nevada Falls

Once we emerged from that wooded section, we encountered a set of switchback stairs built carefully into the side of the mountain. At the end of the switchbacks, we came to a major trail intersection where we turned right and quickly found ourselves at the top of Nevada Falls. We crossed a bridge over the flowing stream and sat in a large open area with great views of the surrounding landscape.

Nevada Falls from the switchbacks
Nevada Falls from the switchbacks
Well built switchbacks
Well built switchbacks
Bridge over the top of Nevada Falls
Bridge over the top of Nevada Falls
Top of Nevada Falls and North Dome
Top of Nevada Falls and North Dome
View from the top of Nevada Falls
View from the top of Nevada Falls

Descending the John Muir Trail

After resting a bit and enjoying our time at the high point of this hike, we continued down the trail to take the John Muir Trail (JMT) back down. This turned out to be a great decision as it quickly brought us to a cliffside section that provided one of the best views of our whole trip. Gazing to our right, we could see the switchback route we just hiked along with Vernal Falls and the back of Half Dome. The scenery and the experience were both absolutely stunning.

Cliffside trail on the JMT
Cliffside trail on the JMT
View of Nevada Falls, North Dome, and Half Dome
View of Nevada Falls, North Dome, and Half Dome

The JMT descends via switchbacks on a path that was once paved, but is now in disrepair. It seems like the park service decided it shouldn’t be paved anymore so they just let it go. That’s just fine, as we’re not the biggest fans of paved trails, but it did make for some slippery footing with lots of loose sand atop the remnant asphalt patches. We made it back down to the Mist Trail right by the first large bridge and walked out the last stretch of paved path back to our campsite.

JMT trail sign
JMT trail sign
Descending the JMT
Descending the JMT
Back at Mist Trail
Back at Mist Trail

Subscribe to our Newsletter!

We'll send you updates when new content becomes available

Be First to Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *