Lower Yosemite Fall View

Lower Yosemite Fall View is the easiest, most reliable waterfall payoff in Yosemite Valley: a paved 1-mile loop with about 50 feet of elevation gain that ends at a footbridge looking straight up the base of the fall. No technical hiking required — just good shoes, and in spring, a willingness to get wet.

What you'll see

The loop circles through forest and open ground along Yosemite Creek before reaching a viewing platform right at the base of the 320-foot lower cascade, the final drop in the larger Yosemite Falls system. In peak flow, mist reaches well past the footbridge — it's the closest most visitors get to the full force of a Yosemite waterfall.

Getting there

There's no parking at the trailhead itself. Take the free Valleywide Visitor Shuttle to stop #6, or walk the paved bike path from Yosemite Valley Visitor Center, which adds about half a mile each way. The eastern half of the loop is wheelchair accessible when it isn't covered in ice or snow.

When to go

Flow peaks in spring and early summer as snowmelt fills Yosemite Creek; by late July the fall often runs dry and typically stays that way into October, so April through June is the window if you want to see — and feel — real water. Heed the park's own warning here: the rocks and boulders above the wooden footbridge stay slippery even when they look dry, and people scrambling off-trail for a closer look have been seriously injured.