About
Length (round trip)15 mi
ShapeOut-and-Back
DifficultyStrenuous
Elevation gain4,800 ft up
Typical time10 hr
TrailheadHappy Isles, Yosemite Valley
SurfaceGranite steps, then a cable-and-plank ladder up bare rock
Best seasonWaterfalls peak in May and June. Tioga and Glacier Point roads open late May or June and close with the first big snow.
DogsNot allowed
PermitRequired
What you'll see 💧 Waterfall⛰️ Summit🌄 Big views🌊 River or creek

Up the Mist Trail past Vernal and Nevada Falls, through Little Yosemite Valley, up the granite steps of Sub Dome, and finally 400 feet up the north-east face on two steel cables with wooden planks every ten feet. The summit is a bare granite plateau nearly 5,000 feet above the valley floor.

Tips
A permit is required for the cables and is allocated by a March pre-season lottery and a daily lottery two days ahead. Bring gloves for the cables. Never go up if there is any chance of a thunderstorm - people have been killed by lightning and by slipping on wet granite. Twelve to fourteen hours for most people.
Location

Happy Isles, Yosemite Valley

Other Hikers
No one has logged this trail yet.
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