Known the world over for its great granite cliffs and domes, enormous waterfalls and giant sequoias, Yosemite is everything a national park should be and more. Such well known Yosemite Valley destinations as Vernal Fall, Nevada Fall, Yosemite Falls and Half Dome are magnets for hikers. Equally attractive are many more sights outside the valley: Tuolomne Meadows, Cathedral Peak, Clouds Rest, the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees and many more.

The park boasts a magnificent High Sierra backcountry, one that (by rather severe Sierra standards anyway) is quite accessible. Well-marked trails lead to wildflower-festooned alpine meadows, lovely lakes and tarns, trails and cross-country routes to peaks.

John Muir is inextricably linked with Yosemite. The great naturalist’s pioneering work in glacier theory and passionate efforts to make Yosemite a park have long been admired and will be appreciated by generations to come.

Beginning in the 1950s, Yosemite (most particularly Yosemite Valley) suffered from overcrowding: the cafes and cafeterias, the campgrounds, the creaky little Curry cabins, the ranger talks and campfire circles.

Park visitation increased from about a million visitors a year in the 1950s to two million a year in the 1960s to four million a year in the 1990s. Then and now such heavy visitation sometimes results in summer traffic jams in Yosemite Valley, and crowding at overlooks, concessions, YosemiteVillage and on the shuttle bus system.

The good news is that efforts to reduce auto traffic in the valley by extensive use of buses have been at least partially successful. When the Park Service implements other programs to ease traffic and reduce commercial facilities, the pay-off will be an even richer park experience for hikers and visitors of all kinds.

Unlike the motorist, diner or souvenir shopper, the hiker feels fewer effects of Yosemite’s crowds. With the exception of the heavily trafficked “waterfall trails” and a couple other valley footpaths, the hiker is far less likely to feel the impact of such crowding and may even be surprised at achieving a measure of solitude.

Some Yosemite Valley Trails are accessible all year. While the park has glaciated peaks that rise to more than 13,000 feet in elevation, Yosemite Valley is less than a mile high and some park areas are even below 3,000 feet. In spring, Yosemite’s waterfalls are at their most majestic. In summer, alpine slopes burst into bloom. Autumn is a favorite time for a walk. The “Range of Light” is particularly dramatic and the aspens glow like fire in the wind.         

John Muir’ suggested hikes in his 1912 Yosemite guidebook were 25 miles long. One can only imagine hikers of that era were of sturdier stock--or else few followed in Muir’s footsteps.

My suggested hikes are a wee bit (in fact, mostly a lot) shorter than those detailed by Muir; nevertheless they are Yosemite classics all and some will keep the average hiker on the trail for an entire day.

Yosemite’s trails are for the most part well-engineered, well-maintained and well-signed. Opportunities for summer solitude may be few on the major trails, but the farther away from a road one hikes, the greater the opportunity for tranquility. “Well-used” is a better characterization of most Yosemite trails than “overused.” The journey on these pathways is often as pleasurable as the famed destinations they reach.