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.
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 roadhead 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.
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.
Halfdome Video
OpenRoad.TV video of one of the great hikes in the American West... from the floor of Yosemite Valley to the top of Half Dome. For the full travelogue on Yosemite's Half Dome Trek, including related videos, interactive map, and useful links, visit WWW.OPENROAD.TV
Individual trails have individual stories:
--The trail up Mt. Dana was constructed at the behest of esteemed Yosemite botanist Dr. Carl Sharsmith who designed a route that minimized human impact on the mountain’s fragile flora.
--Yosemite Falls Trail, like some other early (1870s) paths, was privately built and operated as a toll trail.
--Mirror Lake was once auto-accessible; now the road to the lake is a walking path.
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.
At any moment on any hike in Yosemite National Park you might just notice what nature writer Joseph Smeaton Chase called “the thousand and one things that make up the silent conversation of the trail
Hiking In Yosemite National Park 
Individual trails have individual stories: