Mist Trail/Vernal and Nevada Falls

There are hotels in Yosemite Valley where you can stay. Pricey though. There are also a number of campgrounds. Much more affordable, but you need to make reservations months in advance. There are a few no reservation campgrounds available, but they're outside the main valley. Bridalveil Creek, Tamarack, and White Wolf.

Mist Trail starts at Happy Isles in the main valley. There are more and more restrictions to drive into the main valley, but you can still do that. Once in the main valley there is a shuttle bus service that will take you to Happy Isles. Mist Trail to Vernal Falls is a strenuous but not long hike. Thousands of people do it literally every day, so expect crowds on the trail and at Vernal Falls. From Vernal Falls to Nevada Falls is also pretty strenuous, but hundreds of people do that daily. The scenery on this leg is not quite as spectacular, but still gorgeous. Once at Nevada Falls, you can hike back the way you came, or take the "horse Trail/Muir trail" down back to Happy Isles. Half as steep and therefore twice as long, and much less scenic over the bottom half. I would recommend taking a light jacket and at lest one liter/quart of water plus some snacks.  There is treated water on mist trail about half way up at the bridge that crosses the river. Flush toilets too. After that, no more treated water and only composting toilets. No permits are required for either of these hikes. Hiking beyond Nevada Falls pretty much requires a backcountry permit.

An alternative route is to start at Glacier Point and take the Panorama Trail all the way down to Happy Isles. The complication is taking a bus back up to Glacier Point. Or you can take a free shuttle bus in the valley to "4-mile trail" (actually just under 4.5 miles) and hike back up to Glacier Point. This is a strenuous hike but very pretty.

Almost forgot. Once you're at Nevada Falls there are three trails down. Mist trail to Vernal Falls then Happy Isles, Muir Trail ("horse trail") to Happy Isles, and Muir/Clark Point Trail to Vernal Falls then Happy Isles. The Clark Point trail provides great views of Nevada Falls and is a very pretty route back down to Vernal Falls.

He wants to do this in a couple of weeks, possible that portions of these trails will still be closed. Specifically the Mist Trail along Vernal Fall (the "misty" part) is subject to closure due to ice, if so then the JMT is the only option for the lower segment. Then, From Vernal to Nevada the JMT is subject to closure, there's an area called the Ice Cut that is prone to falling ice, if so then the Mist is the only option for the upper segment.

The 4-Mile Trail and Glacier Point Road certainly will still be closed for Winter in early April. So starting at GP won't be an option.

There are only two trails down from the top of Nevada Fall, the Mist and the JMT. The third trail Keny referenced is only a short spur that connects the two trails at roughly the halfway point, between top of Vernal Fall and Clark Point (not from top of Nevada). The JMT is less steep and shorter than the Mist, but not by half and double, respectively. The Mist is about 3.1 miles while the JMT same point-to-point is about 4.5 miles. The potable water and flush toilets are at the footbridge at the bottom of Vernal Fall (which technically is where the Mist Trail begins and junctions off from the JMT), that is only about one-quarter to one-third of the way up. Only other facilities are the composting toilets at top of Nevada Fall.

No permit or fee is required to hike the trail, though there is an entrance fee to the park ($20 per car, good for a week). And you can hike as far as you want past Nevada Fall without a backcountry permit, you just can't stay out overnight. I don't recommend doing so because there isn't must to see without going another couple of miles and some serious additional climbing, but it isn't permit restricted if you do it as a dayhike.

Lodging options include the hotels and lodges in the Valley, tent cabins in Curry...excuse me...HALF DOME Village, and in addition to the first-come campgrounds outside of the Valley there is one in the Valley (Camp 4, but good luck getting a spot, the line forms before 7am and still no guarantees). True that these book up within minutes of the reservations opening, but cancellations do happen so you can keep checking the website for any openings.

You guys have provided great information, thank you everyone. I am pretty much set in this hike though. I'm sure there are a lot of nice trails around southern California but Yosemite is much nicer I'm sure. Money and time aren't really an issue as I'll have a few days off and I can definitely book a hotel if it comes down to that. Camping would be pretty fun though. I'll look into both. I guess I need to start checking to make sure these places are open or will be open and I need to get all my gear together. I'm assuming if I do the mist trail and then head to vernal and or Nevada falls there will always be other people around?

If the trail is open, there will be lots of other people using it. There are a lot fewer folks using the JMT on the south side of the Merced River if you want more solitude. That trail starts south from the rock slide viewing circle past the Happy Isles Nature Center. The 'pavement' is somewhat broken up to first few hundred meters if you care about that.

Check www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/conditions.htm for trail conditions. Scroll down to Trails and Conditions near the bottom of the page.

See www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/upload/valleyhikes1.pdf for the Yosemite Valley Hiking Map with descriptions of popular trails including the Vernal and Nevada Falls Trail.

It may be hard to find lodging in the park with such short notice. You may have better luck at the Yosemite View Lodge and Cedar Lodge along hwy 140 a few miles from the park entrance.

Sorry JR, but one nit: park entrance is $30 per car these days (without a pass).