Olmsted Cascade is a 300-foot waterfall on Tenaya Creek in Mariposa County, California, in the Sierra Nevada region. It lies about 7.5 miles northeast of Yosemite Valley and roughly 65.6 miles northeast of Merced as the crow flies.
At 300 feet it stands in the tallest quarter of California’s 286 waterfalls with a recorded height, ranking 47th; the typical California waterfall is about 70 feet.
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. Tenaya Creek carries 6 recorded waterfalls; the biggest of them reaches 660 feet.
Mariposa County holds 55 recorded waterfalls, and several are close by. Pywiack Cascade, 660 feet high, is about 1.7 miles away. Tenaya Cascade, 150 feet high, is about 2.1 miles away. Pywiack Dome Cascade, 30 feet high, is about 3 miles away.
Olmsted Cascade is located at 37.8078° N, 119.4698° 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 position was verified on aerial imagery. Details on trails, parking and access have not been documented for this waterfall yet.