Picnic area · Yosemite National Park
Picnic by the Merced with Yosemite Falls for company.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
“You're coming up on the Four Mile Trailhead, with Swinging Bridge Picnic Area nearby. For an easy break, choose the picnic area: mostly level paths reach the Merced River and a view of Yosemite Falls.”
Yosemite Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Yosemite National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Yosemite audio tourRecorded for this place
Swinging Bridge and Four Mile Trail“You're coming up on the Four Mile Trailhead, with Swinging Bridge Picnic Area nearby. For an easy break, choose the picnic area: mostly level paths reach the Merced River and a view of Yosemite Falls.”
Plays as you drive up to Swinging Bridge Picnic Area (Yosemite Valley) in the Parkwolf Yosemite Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“We just drove through Yosemite and it made our trip listening to this app as we drove through. Like having a tour guide in the car with you.”
Guide
Swinging Bridge Picnic Area is a flat riverside stop on the Merced, with a fixed wooden bridge and views of Yosemite Falls and the surrounding cliffs. It is a good place to stretch your legs or linger over a picnic; the bridge itself does not swing.
There are picnic tables, grills and vault toilets, so bring food and make a meal of it. Parking is extremely limited. The approach to the picnic area and bridge follows paved, mostly level paths; the picnic ground is flat but unpaved. Accessible tables and toilets are provided, though the beach itself is not wheelchair accessible. A paved path links the area with Cook's Meadow, Yosemite Chapel, Yosemite Valley Lodge and the Lower Yosemite Fall trail.
The name is a leftover from the earlier swinging bridges here. Repeated floods damaged them, and the present fixed bridge replaced them after the 1964 flood. It is a useful reminder that the Merced can rise with real force.
Wildlife
732 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
1,747 sightingsMule DeerMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
332 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
11 sightingsPeregrine FalconMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
276 sightingsPikaMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
677 sightingsYellow-bellied MarmotMost seen around 8 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Yosemite. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
EasySentinel Meadow and Cook's Meadow Loop2.3 mi · 1.5 hr · At the trailheadTwo meadows, river bridges, and a Half Dome view in one walk.
ChallengingFour Mile Trail4.8 mi · 3.5 hr · 0.2 mi awayClimb Yosemite’s south wall for a broader view of the Valley.
ChallengingFour Mile and Panorama Loop16.7 mi · 10.5 hr · 0.2 mi awayA full-day Yosemite loop from Four Mile to Glacier Point and back.
ChallengingYosemite Falls Trail7.2 mi · 7 hr · 0.4 mi away60 switchbacks climb to the top of Upper Yosemite Fall
ChallengingEl Capitan Trail via Yosemite Falls15.4 mi · 10 hr · 0.4 mi awayA full-day summit hike past Yosemite Falls to El Capitan.
ChallengingEagle Peak Trail12.6 mi · 8.5 hr · 0.4 mi awayA long climb to Eagle Peak’s view across Yosemite Valley.
ModerateColumbia Rock Trail2 mi · 2.5 hr · 0.4 mi awayA steep mile opens Yosemite Valley and Half Dome in one sweep.
ChallengingEastern North Rim Traverse18.1 mi · 12.5 hr · 0.4 mi awayOne-way rim traverse from Yosemite Falls to Mirror Lake via North Dome.
Beach · 0.3 mi awaySentinel BeachPicnic under Sentinel Rock with Upper Yosemite Fall in view.
Campground · 0.4 mi awayCamp 4Shared tent sites steeped in the history of American climbing.
Lodging · 0.5 mi awayYosemite Valley LodgeStay by the falls with meals, coffee and groceries close by.
Sight · 0.5 mi awayYosemite ChapelA quiet history stop with a meadow view of the falls.
Sight · 0.7 mi awaySentinel BridgeHalf Dome’s river reflection, right from the bridge.Sight · 0.9 mi awayCook's MeadowA level meadow walk gives you the classic Half Dome view.
Sight · 1 mi awayYosemite FallsThe lower plunge is close; the full 2,425-foot view takes another angle.
Sight · 1.1 mi awayYosemite MuseumBaskets, Miwok-Paiute history, and a reconstructed village in one stop.Parkwolf’s Yosemite ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
