1. Lower Yosemite Falls Loop

1 mile loop · flat & fully paved · shuttle stop 6

The one from our reel — and the single best first hike in the park with young kids. You walk right up to the base of the final 320-foot cascade of North America’s tallest waterfall. Our boys rode the whole way and it’s an easy, comfortable stroll even for a pregnant mama.

Go in spring if you can: the falls roar and you’ll get misted on the footbridge, which the kids think is the greatest thing ever. By late summer the falls can slow to a trickle.

2. Cook’s Meadow Loop

1 mile loop · flat boardwalk & paved path · starts across from the Lower Falls trailhead

The biggest scenery-per-step ratio in the Valley. From one easy meadow loop you get Upper Yosemite Falls, Half Dome, and Sentinel Rock — with zero climbing. This is Megan’s favorite kind of Yosemite moment: pull over, wander a boardwalk through a meadow, and just stand there surrounded by granite walls.

3. Bridalveil Fall Trail

0.5 miles round trip · paved, gentle uphill at the end · parking at the trailhead

A ten-minute walk to a 620-foot waterfall that flows all year. The trail and viewing area were fully rebuilt a few years ago, so it’s smoother than ever. Bridalveil swings in the wind — the original name means “spirit of the puffing wind” — so expect spray.

4. Mirror Lake

2 miles round trip · paved path to the lake · shuttle stop 17

An easy paved path ends at a shallow, calm lake sitting directly beneath Half Dome. In spring and early summer the reflections are unreal and the sandy edges are perfect for wading and rock-tossing — kids could happily stay for hours. By late summer it dries into a meadow (still pretty, just no “mirror”).

5. Swinging Bridge & Sentinel Beach

As short or long as you want · flat riverside paths · picnic areas with tables

Less a hike, more a reward — and honestly, playing in the river was the most fun our boys had in the whole park, and it required zero hiking. Sandy beaches on the Merced with a straight-shot view of Yosemite Falls from the bridge, shallow edges for little kids, and picnic tables under the pines.

6. Mariposa Grove — Big Trees Loop

0.3 mile loop (or 2 miles to the Grizzly Giant) · flat, accessible boardwalk · free shuttle from the Welcome Plaza

Giant sequoias make kids feel wonderfully tiny. The Big Trees Loop is a short accessible boardwalk past the Fallen Monarch; families with kids 4+ can continue on the Grizzly Giant Loop to a 3,000-year-old tree and the California Tunnel Tree.

7. Vernal Fall Footbridge

1.6 miles round trip · paved but steep (~400 ft up) · shuttle stop 16

The “graduation hike.” It’s the first stretch of the famous Mist Trail: a real climb on a paved path, with the footbridge view of Vernal Fall as the payoff. Kids around 5 and up can absolutely earn this one, and they will talk about it for weeks.