Happy Isles to Little Yosemite Valley Gear Checklist
A Happy Isles to Little Yosemite Valley permit climbs past Vernal and Nevada Falls to the first campground the park allows above Yosemite Valley, and it makes that campground your first night. Camp comes with shared food lockers, two fire rings outside the campground, a composting toilet and river water you must treat. People who have done the trip carry rain protection for the Mist Trail spray, a way to treat Merced River water, a map that works without signal and a small pack for the Half Dome side trip.
What shapes your gear on Little Yosemite Valley
- Your first night is already chosen
- With a permit for Happy Isles to Little Yosemite Valley you must spend the first night in the Little Yosemite Valley Campground, and you may stay there on later nights. The park calls it the most popular area in the wilderness. The daily quota for this trailhead is 15 people by the 24-week lottery and 10 more released on a first-come basis a week ahead.
From National Park Service, Yosemite: Half Dome and Little Yosemite Valley, National Park Service, Yosemite: Trailhead Information and National Park Service, Yosemite: Half Dome Permits for Backpackers
- Distance and climb
- The park lists 9.6 miles round trip from Happy Isles with 2,150 feet of gain. The Mist Trail is the shorter, steeper way up, and the John Muir Trail is longer and lower angle. Other writers give different distances, including 3.8 miles one way in one guide and an 8-mile first day with 3,500 feet in a 2025 group account, so the park's figure is the one to plan on.
From National Park Service, Yosemite: Yosemite Valley Trails, The Outbound and Wine Hiking Society
- The Mist Trail soaks you
- A 2025 group was sprayed by Vernal Fall on the switchbacks and arrived with sore calves. One solo hiker took the John Muir Trail at the split after a mile and met only a few other hikers. The Mist Trail fills with day hikers, so one expert advises an early start.
From Wine Hiking Society, Marcus Hellberg and The Big Outside
- What the campground has
- The campground is minimally developed with no check-in or check-out. It has shared food lockers, two campfire rings just outside the campground, a composting toilet and no drinking water. You can leave a tent standing while you day hike. The Merced River is the only water source nearby.
From National Park Service, Yosemite: Half Dome and Little Yosemite Valley, National Park Service, Yosemite: Food Lockers and The Outbound
- Parking and the first morning
- Overnight trailhead parking sits just past Curry Village, about a half mile from Happy Isles, and the park does not allow parking at Happy Isles itself. A hiker who slept at the Backpackers' Campground walked 15 minutes to the trailhead and found many hikers out already a little after 7 am.
From National Park Service, Yosemite: Trailhead Information and Marcus Hellberg
What the agency requires on Little Yosemite Valley
A wilderness permit that matches your trailhead and dates
The permit is valid for the trip leader, entry trailhead, dates and group size written on it. You must carry it and show it on request. Leaving the wilderness during the itinerary voids it.
From National Park Service, Yosemite: Wilderness Regulations
Food in a canister or a shared locker
All food, trash, drinks and toiletries go in an approved bear canister, pannier or bear box unless you are eating or cooking within arm's reach. At Little Yosemite Valley the shared lockers count, but they must stay closed and latched, hold no padlocks and hold food only. Hanging food is illegal and bear spray is not allowed in Yosemite.
From National Park Service, Yosemite: Wilderness Regulations, National Park Service, Yosemite: Half Dome and Little Yosemite Valley and National Park Service, Yosemite: Food Lockers
A way to treat river water
There is no drinking water at the campground. Treat water from the Merced River by boiling it, running it through a filter made to stop giardia, or adding iodine. Keep any washing 100 feet or more from the river, and keep soap out of it.
From National Park Service, Yosemite: Half Dome and Little Yosemite Valley and National Park Service, Yosemite: Wilderness Regulations
Fire only in the communal rings
Campfires at Little Yosemite Valley are allowed only in the two communal rings outside the campground. You may gather dead and down wood, the park suggests wood thinner than your wrist, and you must never burn trash.
From National Park Service, Yosemite: Half Dome and Little Yosemite Valley and National Park Service, Yosemite: Wilderness Regulations
Half Dome permits, added at pickup
A Half Dome permit is needed even for backpackers when the cables are up. Backpackers with this trailhead can add it at pickup for $10 per person, and the backpacker quota is about 75 permits a day.
From National Park Service, Yosemite: Half Dome Permits for Backpackers
What hikers carry on Little Yosemite Valley
A rain jacket for the spray
The Mist Trail earns its name. A 2025 group climbing the switchbacks under Vernal Fall got sprayed on the way up.
From Wine Hiking Society and The Big Outside
A filter, boiling pot or iodine for the Merced River
The campground has no tap. Writers describe walking to the river to filter water at camp after the climb, and the park's own list of treatments is a filter, a boil or iodine.
From Wine Hiking Society, The Outbound and National Park Service, Yosemite: Half Dome and Little Yosemite Valley
A canister, or a plan to use the shared locker
Hikers who stay only at Little Yosemite Valley can lean on the communal lockers and skip the canister. One guide tells campers to remind others when dishes or food are left out. A hiker camped on the next stretch of the John Muir Trail near Sunrise Creek woke to find a bear had rolled his borrowed canister into the creek. It stayed shut, though water seeped in and spoiled some food.
If your itinerary camps beyond the campground you need a canister of your own.
From The Outbound, David Noble and National Park Service, Yosemite: Food Lockers
A paper map or an offline map
A solo hiker starting the John Muir Trail forgot to download the topo layer in a trail app and could not fetch it with the weak signal he had. A paper map and offline maps on another app saved the day.
From Marcus Hellberg
A light daypack for Half Dome
The campground is the base for Half Dome. One hiker reached camp before 10 am, pitched the tent and left most gear inside while going on to the summit. Another expert says to do the climb without your overnight gear, and the park lets you keep a tent standing while you day hike.
From Marcus Hellberg, The Big Outside and National Park Service, Yosemite: Half Dome and Little Yosemite Valley
Gloves for the cables, if you add Half Dome
A solo hiker put on gloves before the steel cables and then spent over an hour mostly standing while other people rested above him at the busiest hour. A guide says the base of the dome keeps a pile of shared gloves, which is not a plan you can count on.
From Marcus Hellberg and The Outbound
A food bag you can close fast, even at lunch
A squirrel tried to share a hiker's lunch on the climb in 2004, and the campground's shared lockers are for food only. Keep snacks where you can close them fast.
From David Noble and National Park Service, Yosemite: Food Lockers
15 people can go on one permit. Split this list between them so nobody carries two stoves.
Plan a trip hereWhat hikers regret or leave behind on Little Yosemite Valley
Relying on a phone map alone
The solo hiker at Happy Isles found the street map useless for trail navigation and could not download the missing topo layer with the signal he had.
From Marcus Hellberg
Your whole pack on the Half Dome side trip
Hikers advise leaving the camp kit behind and taking a light pack. The base camp stays set up and nobody checks you in or out.
From The Big Outside, Marcus Hellberg and National Park Service, Yosemite: Half Dome and Little Yosemite Valley
A fishing rod
A hiker brought one to fish the Merced at camp and caught nothing. The river was running high after heavy rain, and a snake out-fished him.
From Marcus Hellberg
A padlock for the locker
The lockers are shared. The park does not allow padlocks or non-food items in them, so a lock only adds weight.
From National Park Service, Yosemite: Half Dome and Little Yosemite Valley and The Outbound
Gear questions for Little Yosemite Valley
Do you have to camp at Little Yosemite Valley with a Happy Isles permit?
Yes for the first night. A Happy Isles to Little Yosemite Valley permit requires the first night at the Little Yosemite Valley Campground, and you may stay there on later nights. Camping is not allowed between Yosemite Valley and the campground.
From National Park Service, Yosemite: Half Dome and Little Yosemite Valley and National Park Service, Yosemite: Trailhead Information
Do you need a bear canister at Little Yosemite Valley?
Either a canister or a shared locker works. The campground has communal food lockers that must stay closed and latched, with no padlocks and no non-food items. If you camp beyond the campground you need an approved canister. Hanging food is illegal.
From National Park Service, Yosemite: Half Dome and Little Yosemite Valley, National Park Service, Yosemite: Food Lockers and National Park Service, Yosemite: Wilderness Regulations
Is there drinking water at Little Yosemite Valley?
No. The campground has no tap. Take water from the Merced River and treat it by boiling, with a filter that stops giardia, or with iodine. The river is the only source near camp.
From National Park Service, Yosemite: Half Dome and Little Yosemite Valley and Wine Hiking Society
Can you add Half Dome to a Little Yosemite Valley permit?
Yes. Happy Isles and Glacier Point to Little Yosemite Valley are eligible. Ask for Half Dome when you pick up the wilderness permit, pay $10 per person, and the Half Dome permit then covers every date on the wilderness permit. It is valid for backpackers only.
From National Park Service, Yosemite: Half Dome Permits for Backpackers
Sources
- Half Dome and Little Yosemite Valley · National Park Service, Yosemite · Agency
- Wilderness Regulations · National Park Service, Yosemite · Agency
- Food Lockers · National Park Service, Yosemite · Agency
- Trailhead Information · National Park Service, Yosemite · Agency
- Yosemite Valley Trails · National Park Service, Yosemite · Agency
- Half Dome Permits for Backpackers · National Park Service, Yosemite · Agency
- JMT: Happy Isles to Little Yosemite Valley · Marcus Hellberg, Marcus Hellberg · Trip report
- Yosemite: My Journey from Happy Isles to Tuolumne Village · Wine Hiking Society, Jackie Adragna · Blog
- Little Yosemite Valley Campsite and Half Dome · The Outbound, Eddie Jo · Blog
- Where to Backpack First Time in Yosemite · The Big Outside, Michael Lanza · Blog
- Hike 1 - Yosemite to Mammoth · David Noble, David Noble · Trip report