Big Bend Falls is a 15-foot waterfall on Lee Vining Creek in Mono County, California, in the Sierra Nevada region. It lies about 24 miles northwest of Mammoth Lakes and roughly 82.1 miles north of Clovis as the crow flies.
At 15 feet it is on the modest side for California, where the typical waterfall with a recorded height stands around 70 feet; it ranks 264th of 286. By form it is a segmented waterfall, splitting into two or more separate streams as it falls, combined with a cascade character.
The Sierra Nevada is a long granite range with glacially carved canyons, alpine meadows and forests of ponderosa and Jeffrey pine, incense cedar and giant sequoia. Snowmelt-fed rivers pour over polished granite steps and cliffs, especially in spring and early summer. Lee Vining Creek carries 5 recorded waterfalls; the biggest of them reaches 75 feet.
Mono County holds 42 recorded waterfalls, and several are close by. Aspen Falls, 20 feet high, is under a mile away. Lee Vining Falls, a 75-foot tiered cascade waterfall, is about 1.5 miles away. Ellery Lake Falls, a 70-foot segmented horsetail waterfall, is about 1.7 miles away.
Big Bend Falls is located at 37.9449° N, 119.2008° W. The listing is based on the World Waterfall Database, one of the sources compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey in its inventory of waterfalls and rapids of the conterminous United States. The creek name is confirmed against the federal Geographic Names Information System. The exact position has not yet been verified on aerial imagery, so treat the map pin as approximate. Details on trails, parking and access have not been documented for this waterfall yet.