Hike, backpack, bring the kids—there’s a trail for you in Yosemite National Park. With its towering granite cliffs, impressive waterfalls, and lush meadows, Yosemite National Park offers boundless outdoor adventures. Now in its second edition, Top Trails: Yosemite, by Elizabeth Wenk and Jeffrey P. Schaffer, describes the park’s classic destinations and lesser-known jewels in 45 must-do hikes. As part of the award-winning Top Trails series, this updated guide includes innovative trail-feature charts with information on child-friendly trails, wildflowers, scenic vistas, and more. Detailed route maps and elevation profiles, along with expert trail commentary, ensure that you know what to expect on every outing. Trailhead directions and “don’t get lost” milestones help you to find where you need to go. Campground, RV, hotel, resort, and facility information provide extra details to plan your perfect trip. Top Trails: Yosemite includes treks to the base of Yosemite Falls, to the top of Half Dome, and across remote wilderness high in the Sierra Nevada. Whether you’re looking for a scenic stroll to stretch your legs, a full-day adventure, or a rewarding backpacking trip, you’ll find it here. Since childhood, Lizzy Wenk has hiked and climbed in the Sierra Nevada and continues the tradition with her husband, Douglas Bock, and daughters, Eleanor and Sophia. As she obtained a PhD in Sierran alpine plant ecology from the University of California, Berkeley, her love of the mountain range morphed into a profession. But writing guidebooks has become her way to share her love and knowledge of the Sierra Nevada with others. Lizzy continues to obsessively explore every bit of the Sierra, spending summers hiking on- and off-trail throughout the range, but she currently lives in Sydney, Australia, during the “off-season.” Other Wilderness Press titles she has authored include John Muir Trail, One Best Hike: Mount Whitney, One Best Hike: Grand Canyon, 50 Best Short Hikes: Yosemite, and Wildflowers of the High Sierra and John Muir Trail, the latter a perfect companion book for all naturalists. Jeffrey P. Schaffer has been hiking and climbing in Yosemite National Park since 1964. He’s logged thousands of miles on-trail in the park and has completed some 70 different roped ascents, including several first ascents. In 1972 he began work on his first book for Wilderness Press, The Pacific Crest Trail. Since then, he has written and contributed to more than a dozen Wilderness Press guidebooks, including Yosemite National Park: A Complete Hiker’s Guide. Today, he teaches a variety of natural sciences courses at San Francisco Bay Area community colleges, does Sierran geomorphic research, leads climbs both outdoors and in climbing gyms, and lives with his wife in the Napa Valley. Joe Walowski conceived of the Top Trails series in 2003 and was series editor of the first three titles: Top Trails: Los Angeles, Top Trails: San Francisco Bay Area, and Top Trails: Lake Tahoe. He currently lives in Seattle. Northeast Yosemite TRAIL 1 Benson Lake and Matterhorn Canyon Loop TRAIL USE Backpack, Horse - LENGTH 50.3 miles (over 4–7 days) - VERTICAL FEET ±10,550' - DIFFICULTY 5 - TRAIL TYPE Balloon - FEATURES - Canyon - Lake - Stream - Autumn Colors - Wildflowers - Great Views - Camping - Swimming - Secluded - Steep - Granite Slabs - Geological Interest - FACILITIES - Resort - Water - Campgrounds - Horse Staging The vast lands of northern Yosemite cannot be reached on a weekend walk, because here the most sought-after destinations are all 15 miles or more from the trailhead. This loop takes you past many highlights of the area, introducing you to granite-ringed lakes; endless meadows; sharp-pointed ridges; and long, linear, U-shaped valleys scoured by glaciers. The well-traveled Pacific Crest Trail shares your route for a third of the distance, and indeed all the trails described receive reasonable traffic during the summer months, but you’ve nonetheless disappeared far into the wilderness. Permits Overnight visitors require a wilderness permit for the Robinson Creek Trailhead, issued by Humboldt–Toiyabe National Forest. Pick up your permit at the Bridgeport Ranger Station. Maps This trail is covered by the Tom Harrison Hoover Wilderness Region map (1:63,360 scale), the National Geographic Trails Illustrated #308 Yosemite NE map (1:40,000 scale), and the USGS 7.5-minute series Buckeye Ridge , Matterhorn Peak , and Piute Mountain maps (1:24,000 scale). Best Time Late July–mid-September is the best window for this walk. Northern Yosemite―with its abundant lakes, tarns, and meadows―is a mosquito haven, and the landscape cannot be fully appreciated if you feel unable to sit down and relax in your surroundings―especially on such a long trip. The mosquitoes start to wane in late July, and August is idyllic, with the large lakes warm enough for a swim. By mid-September, temperatures drop and days are shorter. There are still a number