Distance: 2.6 miles (4.2 kilometers) round trip
Elevation at trailhead: 4,400 feet (1,340 meters)
Elevation at Inspiration Point: 5,390 feet (1,643 meters)
Total Elevation Gain: 990 feet (300 meters)
Map Notes: It's always a bad sign when you scan the map for the trail you're about to hike and mistake it for either a seismograph reading or a stegosaur's back. Switchbacks mean one thing, and it's not that the trail was designed during happy hour: they mean more elevation gain than can be crammed into a mere straight line. This is definitely the case with the Inspiration Point trail, which makes up in height what it lacks in breadth. However, if you want Tunnel-View vistas without the accompanying Tunnel-View tour buses, it could be worth it.
The Tunnel View, not incidentally, is where this trail starts. The trailhead is on the south (uphill) side of the road, leaving from the parking lot that doesn't have dozens of people jostling to take photos. This trail is formally known as the Pohono Trail, and goes all the way to Glacier Point, passing Dewey Point, Taft Point, and Sentinel Dome along the way.