Nobe Young Falls is a 100-foot plunge waterfall on Nobe Young Creek in Tulare County, California, in the Giant Sequoia National Monument of Sequoia National Forest. It sits at about 6,200 feet a short distance below the Western Divide Highway, but reaching it means a steep, off-trail scramble into the creek's forested canyon.
The falls
The creek drops in a single main plunge. The World Waterfall Database puts it at about 100 feet based on lidar; earlier surveys listed 80 feet. The height has also been given as 60 feet or between 100 and 125 feet. A cave in the rock behind the falls lets visitors stand out of the spray.
Getting there
The approach starts from a dirt pullout on the east side of the Western Divide Highway (M107), about 6.7 to 6.8 miles south of Ponderosa Lodge and a quarter mile south of the signed Crawford Road, or 6.7 miles north of M50 from the south. An abandoned logging road leads downhill, then a rough use path drops steeply to the creek. The unmaintained scramble is under a mile round trip with about 150 feet of climbing, rated strenuous and taking around 1.5 hours.
When to go
May through October is the recommended season. Late-summer flow can be light: a hiker on August 2, 2010, found the creek running low. Fall brings ripe raspberries and elderberries along the creek.
On site
The slopes are steep, sandy and slippery, and the overlook at the top of the falls is exposed, making it risky to hike alone. On August 2, 2020, a 39-year-old man fell about 100 feet near the falls and was airlifted by a CHP helicopter with major injuries. Stay off the edge above the drop.
Nearby
Lower Nobe Young Falls is about 0.5 mile away, Long Meadow Falls about 1.9 miles and Horse Canyon Falls about 2.8 miles.
Distances are straight-line.