Yosemite Falls

There are 13 waterfalls in Yosemite National Park. Of those 13, only 4 are accessible by trail. Spring is the best time to see the falls, as the winter ice is melting away and the water comes crashing down.

Yosemite Falls

Yosemite Falls are made up of the Yosemite Upper Falls and the Yosemite Lower Falls. Together they add up to be the highest waterfall in North America--over 2400 ft.--and the fifth highest in the world. Spring is the best time to view these falls, when they are thunderous and vibrate the ground below. In the summer, they are a misty remembrance of the spring, and in the winter they become ice cones 300ft high.

Bridalveil Fall

Bridalveil Fall is 620ft high and located at the west end of the valley. It is an All Season Fall. It is famous for its veil of mist which the Miwoks, Yosemite's original residents, called "the fall of the puffing winds."

Vernal and Nevada Fall

Vernal Fall is 317 feet high, while Nevada Fall is 594 feet high. Nevada Fall feeds Vernal Fall which enters the Merced River among rainbows. Best seen in spring, they do stay quite active into the summertime. You can view them from the Happy Isles or the Nature Center.