Shoshoko Falls is a 310-foot tiered cascade on Taggart Creek in Avalanche Canyon, Grand Teton National Park, Teton County, Wyoming. It pours from the outlet of Lake Taminah down the canyon's headwall, and there is no maintained trail to it: the Park Service describes Avalanche Canyon as having some of the most difficult terrain of any of the park's mountain canyons.
The falls
Lake Taminah, at 9,055 feet, is the source of the North Fork of Taggart Creek, and the creek leaves the lake as a series of horsetail tiers. A lidar estimate puts the drop at about 310 feet; earlier surveys listed 240 feet, and Wikipedia describes it as a cascade of over 200 feet.
Getting there
The route starts at the Taggart Lake Trailhead on the Teton Park Road, whose lot often fills in summer. The maintained part is short: the Taggart Lake trail runs 3 miles round trip with 360 feet of gain. Beyond the lake, hikers leave the Valley Trail for an unmarked, unpatrolled use path up Taggart Creek into Avalanche Canyon, climbing scree past the falls to Lake Taminah. A hard 10.5-mile out-and-back with 2,755 feet of gain is the commonly cited figure; some hikers have logged 11.5 miles and 3,200 feet, with extensive bushwhacking, deadfall and route-finding. Carry a GPS track and bear spray, and travel in a group. Camping in the backcountry requires a wilderness permit.
Grand Teton 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, and no reservation is needed.
When to go
May to September is the usual season. The falls are intermittent and run only while snowmelt feeds them.
On site
The lower canyon is dense marsh and brush, and the upper canyon has long stretches of steep scree and boulder fields. On July 22, 2013, a 61-year-old hiker was hurt below the steep talus slope between Lake Taminah and the base of the falls; wheeled litters could not be used, so five rangers took turns carrying her on their backs down the canyon, and she reached the trailhead about 11:30 p.m. Dogs are not allowed on the Taggart Lake trail.
Nearby
Spalding Falls is about 1.5 miles away, Cleft Falls about 1.6 miles and Bannock Falls about 1.9 miles, all fed by meltwater from the Middle Teton Glacier. Taggart Lake, on the way in, is an easy destination on its own.
Distances are straight-line.