Most visitors plan the Mist Trail as though it were one fixed thing. It is not, at least not this summer. The stair section above the Vernal Fall footbridge now opens on a schedule.
Crews hold that stretch during weekday daylight hours through October. Someone arriving at nine on a Tuesday will not be climbing those steps. The rest of the route stays open. The John Muir Trail still reaches the top of the fall by way of Clark Point.
None of that ruins the trip. It does mean the hike people picture, all wet granite and spray, is off the menu some days. Planning around that schedule is the whole game right now.
Three Hikes Share One Trailhead
Everything starts at Happy Isles, shuttle stop 16 on the Yosemite Valley floor. There is no parking at the trailhead. The nearest lot sits at Curry Village, about a mile away on foot. The Valleywide or East Valley shuttle is the practical way in, and both drop hikers at the same place.
From that single starting point, the National Park Service lists three turnaround options. They are not remotely equivalent.
- Vernal Fall footbridge: 1.6 miles round trip, 400 feet of gain, 1 to 1.5 hours, rated moderate
- Top of Vernal Fall via the Mist Trail: 2.4 miles round trip, 1,000 feet of gain, about 3 hours, rated strenuous
- Top of Nevada Fall via the Mist Trail: 5.4 miles round trip, 2,000 feet of gain, 5 to 6 hours, rated strenuous
The footbridge is the version most families should plan for. It is short, and it delivers a straight-on view of the fall. Seasonal restrooms and drinking water sit right there from May through October. The Park Service suggests one quart of water for that leg. Two quarts covers the top of Vernal Fall. Three to four quarts is the recommendation for Nevada Fall.
The jump from moderate to strenuous is not a formality. Those 1,000 feet arrive in a little over a mile. Most of that climb happens on stone steps cut into the canyon wall. Plenty of people start up in flip-flops with a single water bottle, then learn something about themselves halfway.
Above the fall sit Emerald Pool and the Silver Apron. On a hot afternoon they look like the best swimming hole in California. Swimming there is illegal, and the current is genuinely lethal. That warning is not decoration.
Start early, and not for the reason most guides give. The canyon holds heat like a parked car, and the granite reflects it back from both sides. Afternoon crowds also stack up on a staircase with nowhere to pass. A first shuttle out of the Valley beats every clever trick for avoiding both.
The Stairs Run on a Schedule Through October
The segment under repair starts at the John Muir Trail junction, just above the footbridge. It ends at the top of Vernal Fall. That is the famous part, and it is the part crews are holding during the busiest hours of the week.
- Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays: open through October
- Mondays through Thursdays: normally open only from 3:30 pm to 7 am
- During weekday closures: the John Muir Trail reaches the top of Vernal Fall by the Clark Point cutoff
The John Muir detour trades stairs for switchbacks. It is longer and less dramatic, and it also reaches the top of Nevada Fall. That keeps the classic loop possible on a restricted weekday. The John Muir Trail's Ice Cut section reopened on July 27 after its own round of repairs.
Construction schedules move. Anyone planning a midweek climb should check the park's current conditions page the morning of the hike, not the week before. A closed gate at the junction is a long way to walk for a photo of a sign.
Getting into the park is simpler this year than it has been recently. Yosemite is not running a timed entrance reservation system in 2026. Entrance still costs money, at $35 per private vehicle, valid for seven consecutive days. Motorcycles pay $30 and anyone walking or cycling in pays $20. Entrances take cards and mobile payment only, so cash is useless at the gate.
The Mist Is a Season, Not a Feature
The trail earns its name in May and June. Sierra snowmelt drives Vernal Fall hard enough to soak hikers standing well back from the water. By late summer that changes completely.
As of late July 2026, the Park Service lists Vernal Fall, Nevada Fall, and Bridalveil Fall as low. Yosemite Falls is nearly dry. Flow depends entirely on the snowpack year, so no month carries a guarantee. A visitor arriving in August expecting a wall of spray is usually disappointed. The same trail in early June can render a rain jacket useless.
Anyone building a Yosemite waterfall hike around peak flow should aim at the snowmelt window. Check conditions before booking anything around it. Late spring is the honest answer, with the caveat that a thin snow year moves the whole calendar.
Winter shuts the lower Mist Trail along Vernal Fall outright. Overhanging rock sheds large icicles onto the trail below. The stone steps glaze over into something nobody should be standing on. The winter route follows the John Muir Trail to Clark Point instead, then drops toward the top of the fall. The upper John Muir Trail between Clark Point and Nevada Fall closes for the season too.
The injuries here are mundane rather than cinematic. Sprained ankles, wrenched knees, and footing lost on wet granite account for most of them. The river is the real hazard. The Park Service is blunt about it: do not swim, do not wade, and stay behind the railings. A headlamp is cheap insurance, because a hike that runs long finishes in a canyon that goes dark early.
For a first trip, the footbridge is the honest recommendation. The top of Vernal Fall is the reward for anyone with the legs and the right day of the week. Those wanting something shorter should look at the Lower Yosemite Fall trail instead. It is a paved one-mile loop with 50 feet of gain, and it takes about half an hour. Anyone tempted to keep climbing past Nevada Fall should read what the Half Dome hike asks first. The Vernal Fall listing and the Mist Trail listing carry the planning details. The rest of the Yosemite waterfall guides cover which falls are worth timing a trip around.