Chilnualna Falls is a 185-foot horsetail waterfall on Chilnualna Creek in the Wawona area of Yosemite National Park, Mariposa County, California. It is the main fall in a chain of granite cascades that the creek makes above Wawona, reached by one of the park's steeper day hikes.
The falls
The World Waterfall Database, which surveyed the fall in person, describes a single powerful drop that shoots into a narrow canyon as a roostertail, with other falls upstream and downstream. The long-published figure is 340 feet. Counting the whole series of five tiers, Wikipedia gives about 690 feet, and the park describes five large cascades sliding over granite above the Wawona basin.
Getting there
The trailhead is near the end of Chilnualna Falls Road in Wawona and has a vault toilet and animal-resistant food lockers. The hike is rated very challenging: 8.2 miles round trip with 2,400 feet of gain, about 5 to 7 hours, on switchbacks with views over Wawona. The first cascade comes into view about 0.25 mile from the start and makes a short outing on its own.
Yosemite admission is $35 per vehicle for seven days, plus $100 per person for non-US residents aged 16 and older unless they hold an Annual or America the Beautiful Pass; entrances are cashless. No timed-entry reservation is required in 2026. Overnight trips need a wilderness permit, reservable for the Chilnualna trailhead from May 16 to October 14, 2026, and first-come at other times.
When to go
The creek runs year-round and peaks in May, with the best flow from early May to mid-July and much less water by late summer. Spring and early summer bring wildflowers along the trail. The Wawona trails are lightly traveled compared with much of Yosemite, and ice forms on the cascades in winter. For distant views of the main fall, late morning and early afternoon give the best light.
On site
The trail passes above the brink, and clear views of the main drop come only from a distance; closer looks mean off-trail scrambling through dense brush. In September 2012 two hikers scrambling off-trail near the falls slid down a granite slab, fell onto rocks and were flown out by helicopter. Streamside granite is slippery wet or dry; stay on the trail and keep out of the water near the falls and cliff edges. Pets and bicycles are not allowed.
History and name
The meaning of the name is uncertain: Shirley Sargent's 1961 history records both "leaping waters" and "many rocks." The painter Thomas Hill drew the falls for an 1886 book and later painted them.
Nearby
Upper Chilnualna Falls is about 0.3 mile away and Lower Chilnualna Falls about 1.2 miles, both on the same creek. Alder Creek Falls, also near Wawona, is about 3.1 miles away.
Distances are straight-line.