Only hikes a couple miles of this trail, but its beautiful. Wasn't crowded on my hike. Trees were starting to turn color so photos were good!

Firstly, despite other reviews, this is NOT a bike trail! It’s a hiking trail . Bikes are restricted to paved trails. I hiked the whole loop and it’s a wonderful way to see the main sights and yet avoid the herd. APart from when the trail crosses parking lots I only met half a dozen people all day. I stopped by the river and watched deer crossing, I saw bear scat, and watched in awe as climbers scaled El Cap. It was a hot day, but nearly the trail was shaded luckily, the trail is marked, but you do need a map, There are hardly any paved areas. I think some reviews confuse the bike trails with the loop. Parts of the loop are stony and involve some climbing. I also found it to be much longer than 13 miles. My Garmin said 17! I had a WONDERFUL day and saw the park in all its magnificence. There are even sections where you escape the car noise and feel as if you are the only person for miles and miles.

We didn’t do the whole loop, but kept running into it on our stops. The parts we walked were well maintained, well marked, not overly crowded and clean. We were out on the trail one day and stopped to take a picture, boy I could say that a lot, and it was so quiet and peaceful. So make sure you stop and see the wildfires and here the wind rustle the top of the tall pine trees.