National Park Service

(FYI this is for Cook’s Meadow which, for some reason, an admin pushed into this category and deleted all of my photos. Ooookay.)
You can either start at the faaaar end of the loop at shuttle #6, which is near Lower Yosemite Falls, or you can start at a mid-​way point at shuttle #8, which is the Yosemite Lodge point. Check out the Shuttle stop map for more details:
I started at Yosemite Lodge, taking a path that is actually behind the lodge. Apparently, it’s around a 5 mile loop, but I didn’t loop around the entire path. It’s honestly a little confusing find the entrance, however. Originally, I walked the entire length of the lodge, expecting to see a clearly marked path out in front of the buildings. No such luck. There’s actually a path/​sign behind the buildings, closer to the meadow. There appear to be animal paths that wind around the meadow, which make the trail a little confusing as well, but once you find the proper path it’s pretty smooth sailing and a very easy hike.
This trail was devoid of people at the beginning, and because of this I was surrounded in a blanket of silence and serenity. The meadow had wildlife in it, as well, and was one of the only times I actually saw wildlife while I was there. There was a family of deer about two feet from the path, coolly checking me out, without any fear whatsoever.
The meadow is nice, with some spacious views of the surrounding area as well that you can only get on a flat plain. So you really could get some different shots of the surrounding mountains, if you were so inclined. Since I went here in November, the water that’s below the swinging bridge was there, but not very high. All in all, it’s an easy hike and if you’re staying in the Lodge, it’s literally right at your back door. But I wouldn’t go out of my way to travel it unless I had the intention of a nice, leisurely hike, then cooking some food on the grill afterwards.