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Yosemite National Park

Yosemite Falls

Yosemite is home to countless waterfalls, but none are so famous as Yosemite Falls, one of the world's tallest. It is actually made up of three separate falls: Upper Yosemite Fall with a drop of 1,430 feet, the middle cascades which fall 675 feet, and the Lower Yosemite Fall which finishes the plunge with a 320-foot drop.

Visitors can see Yosemite Falls from numerous places around Yosemite Valley, especially around Yosemite Village and Yosemite Valley Lodge. A one-mile loop trail leads to the base of Lower Yosemite Fall (the eastern side of the loop, from the shuttle stop to the base of the waterfall, is wheelchair accessible). It's also possible to hike to the top of Yosemite Falls as a strenuous, all-day hike. The Yosemite Falls Trail is open year-round; conditions vary depending on the season. In spring, when the waterfall is at its peak, this hike is stunning, and visitors may even get wet from the spray of the waterfall during a section of the hike.

The main village of the native people of the Yosemite Valley, the Ahwahneechee, was located at the base of the falls. The Ahwahneechee people called the waterfall "Cholock" ("the fall") and believed that the plunge pool at its base was inhabited by the spirits of several witches, called the Poloti.

The best time to see waterfalls is during spring when most of the snowmelt occurs. Peak runoff typically occurs in May or June, with some waterfalls (including Yosemite Falls) often only a trickle or even completely dry by August. Storms in late fall rejuvenate some of the waterfalls and all of them accumulate frost along their edges many nights during the winter.

Library of Congress
Wikipedia

A 52 Weeks of Fun Fascinating Fact about Yosemite Falls

In late spring and early summer, rare “moonbows,” (an optical phenomenon caused by light refracting the moon through water) can appear in the waterfall’s mist.

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National Park Service

View of Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls. The middle cascade is the only part of the falls that cannot be seen from the valley floor.
National Park Service

Yosemite Creek feeds these falls after a 13-mile journey from Grants Lake to the Merced River, which runs through Yosemite Valley.
Wikipedia

A cold winter offers a different view of the falls.
Yosemite National Park

A rare “moonbow” forms as lunar light hits the falls on a clear spring evening.

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