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Yosemite Falls
Three-tiered waterfall dropping 2,425 feet into Yosemite Valley
Every spring, snowmelt from the high country pours off the north rim of Yosemite Valley and falls 2,425 feet (739 m) to the valley floor, making Yosemite Falls the tallest waterfall in Yosemite National Park and one of the tallest in North America. The drop comes in three parts. Upper Yosemite Fall plunges 1,430 feet (436 m) in a single leap, a series of middle cascades descends another 675 feet (206 m), and Lower Yosemite Fall finishes with a 320-foot (98 m) drop that visitors can reach on a short paved loop from the valley floor.
The falls exist because ice reshaped the valley. Glaciers deepened the main canyon of the Merced River far more than they cut the side valley of Yosemite Creek, leaving that creek perched high above the valley as a hanging valley. Its water now leaps from the granite rim. The Ahwahneechee people, who lived in the valley for generations before the 1851 arrival of the Mariposa Battalion, called the fall Cholock. Because the creek drains a modest basin of bare granite, the show is seasonal. Flow peaks in May and often shrinks to a trickle or stops entirely by August.
For hikers, the Yosemite Falls Trail climbs from near Camp 4 to the top of the upper fall, a round trip of 7.2 miles (11.6 km) with about 2,700 feet (823 m) of elevation gain. It ranks among the park's most demanding day hikes. In winter, spray freezing on the cliff can build a large cone of ice and snow at the base of the upper fall.