Alarming video from Yosemite National Park shows hikers inching past one another this month on the wildly popular Mist Trail, a steep route known for slick footing and crowded conditions.
In footage filmed over the weekend, one hiker appears to move uncomfortably close to a cliffside drop while other visitors squeeze by on their climb toward Vernal Falls.
Claudia Magana, 30, can be seen cautiously testing each step on the rocks ahead of her, with only a railing between her and a potentially deadly fall.
The video also shows hikers slowly making their way down a rugged stone staircase, packed tightly together as they navigate the narrow passage.
Magana said the heavy foot traffic made the trail feel “dangerous” and argued that Yosemite should cap park attendance. She said she watched visitors move around slower hikers and force their way through as the crowds thickened.
“One wrong move and it’s easy to just slip,” she told The California Post.
The Mist Trail is one of Yosemite’s best-known hikes, offering a relatively short but strenuous route that leads several miles up to Vernal Falls and, farther along, Nevada Falls. Its name comes from the spray that drifts off the waterfalls and soaks parts of the path.
Magana, an experienced hiker, said the staircase was located just after leaving the top of Vernal Falls on her way back toward the trailhead. Although she had already climbed those steps earlier in the hike, she described the moment captured in her video as the “scariest point” of the route.
“Because there’s so many people. There’s a lot of people going up and down,” she said. The woman said she’s a Hayward native and left for the park at four in the morning this past Saturday.
She knew the park was crowded from the moment she arrived as parking lots filled, leaving her searching for several minutes to find a spot even at 7 a.m.
The large crowds could be because of a new rule change that’s spurring more attendance at national parks.
The Trump administration expanded access to Yosemite and other national parks in February of this year.
Yosemite visitors no longer need to make advance reservations as in the past. The change has boosted attendance, which the NPS said then that they would be managed with “real-time traffic management measures, including temporary traffic diversions when parking areas reach capacity and deployment of additional seasonal staff to manage high-use areas.”
“Parks not using timed entry will closely monitor visitation, traffic flow and congestion throughout the season and are prepared to implement additional measures if conditions warrant. These tools may include increased seasonal staffing, enhanced parking management and piloting innovative technologies to improve visitor access while maintaining safe conditions,” they added.
Yosemite National Park recorded 634,508 total visits in June, a near record-breaking high for the month.
Another video taken late last month by 19-year-old student and photographer Mobeen Zarekari displayed an even more frightening scene. His video shows a rainbow over the heads of dozens of tourists smushed on another tight cliffside as they climb or descend the trail.
Zarekari called the crowd at Yosemite “very shocking” and believed the shoulder-to-shoulder hiking made the trail more “dangerous.” He said the noise created from the masses also lessened the experience.
He hopes the Trump administration brings back the reservation system to make trails, especially the Mist Trail, safer.
“It was more peaceful. There was less of a crowd, and it was less dangerous,” he said of the park when it had the reservation system.
The federal government recently touted a busy holiday at the park.
The NPS said the Fourth of July weekend was “one of its smoothest holiday periods in recent memory.”
Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum called the announcement “GREAT” news.
“Earlier this year, we eliminated the timed reservation system to improve visitor experience, and the results speak for themselves,” he wrote, touting more visitation, less traffic and faster entry times.
“Faster entry times than EVER Another win for @POTUS!” he said.
The popular park is hoping to avoid any more tragedy on the Mist Trail.
22-year-old Josue Baires Alfaro died after he fell from Nevada Falls on the trail last month. A brave onlooker tried and failed to save him, risking her own life in the process.
The 594-foot waterfall has claimed several lives over the past two decades. An 18-year-old Israeli tourist died in 2018 after he hung off a cliff at the falls while trying to take a selfie. A 19-year-old from Sacramento died in 2013 after he swam in the waters above the falls before the current took him and swept him over.
A red caution sign at the falls describes the inherent danger of swimming in the fall’s waters: “Stay out of water! Powerful, hidden currents will carry you over the fall. Stay back from the slippery rock at the water’s edge. If you go over the fall, you will die.”
The California Post reached out to the National Park Service for comment.
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