Yosemite National Park is a true dream world. From the moment you drive into this park everything is picturesque and breathtaking. We had an amazing time while visiting Yosemite and we were able to hike a lot of the trails. Yosemite is a large park and there is A LOT to see! Here are three ideas if you are looking for short hikes with beautiful views.
1. Day Hike on the John Muir/Pacific Crest Trail
This was a highlight of my trip. The trail was much less crowded than most of the other trails we hiked, and we crossed paths with so many interesting people who were hiking the full John Muir Trail (211 miles) and the Pacific Crest Trail (2,650 miles). I would love to hike more of both these trails someday but for now this was a really neat experience. It was very inspiring to see the hardcore hikers. We accessed the trail near the Tuolumne Meadows Visitor Center. Choose your own distance, the options are basically endless.
2. Glacier Point by car
This was AWESOME. I really would have liked to hike to Glacier Point but we only had a couple days at the park and had a lot to fit in so we opted to drive to Glacier Point. Right on Glacier Point there is a visitor center complete with a snack bar. We enjoyed lunch with a spectacular view. This isn’t even technically a hike but if you drive up to the top there is plenty of hiking and exploring to do! I think we spent nearly an hour hiking around the area. Truly amazing sights for every photography lover. Everywhere you turn there is a new amazing view. You can’t ask for a better lookout.
3. Tuolumne Grove
The big trees! A must see! I had been to Redwood National Park before this trip so I had a good idea of what I was going to see, but WOW. This was a fun hike. You follow a long, semi steep hill down into the grove. As we walked my husband kept saying “think this is one?” and knowing from my experience at the redwoods I said “I think we will know when we see one” and boy did we ever! A sequoia is undeniable! We took some time just to stand and stare, they are truly a wonder of nature. Super cool! This was a short and lovely hike. We went at sunset at it was beautiful, but we were racing the sun on our way out. So perhaps bring a flashlight if you choose to go in the evening 😉
Much love and Happy Travels,
Lacey
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26 Comments
What a cool experience. I haven’t been to Yosemite in decades. Nice pictures!
December 30, 2016 at 1:20 pmThank you! It was so amazing! I already can’t wait to go see more of it! 🙂
December 30, 2016 at 1:31 pmI will be going in Aug. We are doing road Trip in our travel trailer 180 miles little over 10,000 miles👀🙀🙀👀👀
January 6, 2017 at 3:57 am180 days
January 6, 2017 at 3:57 amYour photos are excellent and show some truly beautiful places. It looks like an amazing place to hike, but I can’t see me doing the handstands! Haha!
May 24, 2017 at 4:26 pmHaha! 🙂 love it! Thank you it was a beautiful trip!
May 24, 2017 at 9:11 pmI love sequoias, I really do! We have so few of them here in Europe and they are not soooo giant as their American counterparts 🙂
May 24, 2017 at 4:34 pmInteresting! They were so crazy big!!!!! So cool!
May 24, 2017 at 9:11 pmwhat an amazing view!! definitely adding this to my list when I go to visit Cali in August. cant wait!
May 24, 2017 at 4:35 pmAwesome! You will love it!
May 24, 2017 at 9:09 pmThe pics look sick!! (: Loving the amazing yoga pose travel pics! Been traveling for almost 2 years and everytime I see an amazing view I really wish I could bust out a yoga pose for that extra oomph! but no….me in a dancer pose just looks painful and not graceful lol!
May 24, 2017 at 4:51 pmHaha! I love it! It was super beautiful there!
May 24, 2017 at 9:10 pmthis is great! Im traveling to Cali in August and I def am going to need to stop by these places. amazing! Thanks!
May 24, 2017 at 4:54 pmLove your photos! Were they taken with a GoPro (I see that’s one of your Amazon links!), or with something else? I haven’t been out west much (just to Arizona), but wow! I definitely need to go explore more!
May 24, 2017 at 5:17 pmThis area was AMAZING! We also visited Lake Tahoe on this trip and I would recommend that too!!!! Amazing views! A couple of these were with my GoPro, but most were on a Cannon Rebel. The GoPro is awesome for hiking, I love that it’s so small and easy to wear!
May 24, 2017 at 5:32 pmWow, your photographs are incredible. Looks like a wonderful place to go hiking. I’d love to visit, especially to see the giant sequoias – they look awesome!
May 24, 2017 at 8:30 pmThank you so much! The sequoias were unbelievable! So fun!
May 24, 2017 at 9:08 pmwow I ;ve never been to yosemite. These pics are great, both the scenery and the yoga poses!
May 25, 2017 at 1:34 amYour photography is epic. Keep it up. Great job and happy travelling! :1
May 25, 2017 at 4:55 amLooks heavenly and untouched. I have heard a lot about Yosemite and i would love to visit it someday. Absolutely loved your yoga poses at picturesque locations. Keep it up 🙂
May 25, 2017 at 5:09 amI love short hikes! (the only ones I can handle lol). This post was perfect for me. Glacier point by car is a great idea when crunching time. I will deff keep these spots in mind. I have been longing to visit Yosemite for years!
May 25, 2017 at 2:11 pmI have Yosemite National Park on my this year’s travel bucket list! Thanks for the guide, will definitely come in handy 🙂
May 25, 2017 at 4:48 pmCheck out Upper Yosemite Falls when you go back for longer hikes! A long, strenuous hike but the views are 100% worth the 3 days of sore legs after!
February 8, 2019 at 12:14 amThat sounds amazing! I cannot wait to go back!
March 25, 2019 at 1:51 pmBeautiful pics. We haven’t been able to get a reservation in Yosemite for years, always booked up. Where was your base camp? On the Tuolome hike, which path did you take to that shallow river? Is the drive treacherous thru there’s?
July 22, 2019 at 4:40 amThank you for your post!
Thanks! It was beautiful! We did a day trip coming down from Tahoe and got a last minute motel outside of town…. I believe it was in Lee Vining. The hike to the shallow river was part of the John Muir trail and pacific hiking trail, we parked at the visitor center and the trail started kind of behind a small building where you could apply for permits to thru hike the trail. The driving was a bit crazy but mostly just beautiful, but A LOT of traffic in the park, we were there in the summer and it was pretty packed!
August 12, 2019 at 6:57 pm