Mirror Lake
add photosMirror Lake (in Yosemite Valley) is famous for its reflections of Half Dome and Mount Watkins when the water level is high enough (in spring); it's more a pond than a lake. Hike is mostly flat. About 1.5 miles each way. Very stroller friendly the whole way.
5 Reviews for Mirror Lake
388
206
'11, '12
1 family found this helpful
"Correct expectations"
Go on this hike with your kids with the right expectations and it will be a great experience. Wrong ones can lead to big disappointments.
As a teenager, I couldn't wait to get to this lake to go swimming and find a big rock to jump off into the water. That was the wrong expectation.
As a mom, I knew better and took my kids on this long hike (1 mile one way is long for them) with a steep hill the last half of the hike with the expectation of finding a widened flat stream area to wade in, throw rocks into and explore. We chose to go on a rather cool day in the summer and that was also good planning. It can be a rather hot hike with not enough water to swim in at the end.
We were pleasantly surprised with seeing the flat, wide face of Half Dome with a climber on a "port a ledge" half way up the face. My little ones waded in the water and climbed some big rocks and had a great time.
I recently saw my friend's pictures of their camping trip to Yosemite on facebook. I couldn't understand where they had found a big rock with a big area of water to jump into. Apparently, Mirror Lake is big enough to jump into in late May! I was shocked and now can't wait to visit this place earlier in the season than August.
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0 families found this helpful
"Nice, Easy hike"
It's a very easy hike. Nice hike for anyone, young and old. A tip is to take the paved trail after the bridge instead of the trail horses take which you will see first and might be confusing. We'll definitely go back here again.
1 family found this helpful
"Great for everyone"
This is a great place to visit for everyone. Even if you are disabled, you can visit. Just make sure that you don't go during a drought cycle. Otherwise this is a spectacularly fun place to visit with all the outdoor appeal. Bring a lunch as this is a great place to lunch as well.
Whether you get here by biking, hiking, bus, car, or horse this is a great place for all to visit. If you are disabled and have a placard you can drive 'behind the scenes' and go here with your friends and family.
1 family found this helpful
"Fun biking to here from Curry Village"
We took a nice bike ride from Curry Village, had lunch at the Awhanee and then rode on to Mirror Lake with our kids, ages 5 and 7. The lake was beautiful and the ride was perfect. We will always take bikes when we return to Yosemite. My kids had fun looking for wildlife in the lake.
0 families found this helpful
"Perfect hike for young kids"
This is a perfect hike for young kids. Our 5 year old was able to do the whole hike no problem at all. Mirror Lake has beautiful reflections of Half Dome. Kids really enjoyed stripping down to the swim trunks and walking into the shallow lake. The entire walk is paved and flat so feel free to bring your stroller. Along the the walk, there is a fallen tree trunk that kids will enjoy using like a see saw, but be careful to have them hold on. I saw two kids fall off (mine included) but they didn't get hurt since they were falling on dirt.
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