Yosemite’s Mist Trail will face closures into autumn, park service says

[Duncan Morrow]

https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/mist-trail-closure-autumn-18195244.php

SFGate (San Francisco, CA)

Tuesday, July 11, 2023

Yosemite’s Mist Trail will face closures into autumn, park service says

Timothy Karoff, SFGATE

Portions of Yosemite’s popular Mist Trail will be intermittently closed for trail work starting this week, according to the National Park Service website. A stretch of the trail between the John Muir trail junction and the top of Vernal Fall will be inaccessible Mondays through Thursdays, 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The closures were announced during Yosemite’s busiest season in an abnormally busy year. It’s a strange year for the park’s natural features, too: Yosemite’s waterfalls are unusually wet, long-lasting and powerful after a wet winter, turning stretches of the Mist Trail into giant splash zones.

The trail work begins just months after the Yosemite Conservancy pledged a $5 million donation for Mist Trail infrastructure upgrades. While the projects are unrelated, both will bring needed improvements to one of the park's most iconic trails. The $5 million project is expected to be completed in 2025 or 2026, according to the Yosemite Conservancy's president.

The trail is arguably Yosemite’s busiest hike — and for good reason. It carries hikers to the tops of two waterfalls, Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall, hence the “mist” in its name. 

The trail also has a history of being one of the most dangerous hiking trails in the United States. Between 2003 and 2013, at least 14 hikers were swept over the top of Vernal Fall and killed. Notably, the top of Vernal Fall is within the trail work area.

The trail work is scheduled to continue through Nov. 2, although dates are subject to change.