Silver Apron is an 85-foot slide cascade on the Merced River in Yosemite National Park, California, where the river spreads across a broad tilt of smooth granite and pours into Emerald Pool. It sits between Nevada Fall and Vernal Fall as the third major waterfall of the Merced's Giant Stairway.
The falls
The water first plunges about 25 feet, then glides roughly 60 feet down a granite slab pitched at about 20 degrees, 50 to 75 feet wide, into Emerald Pool at the head of Vernal Fall. In-person field surveys place the drop at 85 feet, while earlier surveys listed 92 feet. It flows all year. In spring and early summer a well-formed waterwheel curls up about two-thirds of the way down the slide.
Getting there
The route is the Mist Trail from Happy Isles, shuttle stop 16. Reaching the top of Vernal Fall requires 2.4 miles round trip with about 1,000 feet of gain; Silver Apron is just upstream, glimpsed through the trees from its base, and a footbridge crosses the river above it about a quarter mile farther on. From July 27 through October 2026, trail work limited the Mist Trail between its John Muir Trail junction and the top of Vernal Fall to Fridays through Sundays and holidays, plus weekday evenings and nights from 3:30 pm to 7 am; the John Muir Trail stays open as the alternative. The lower Mist Trail closes in winter because of falling ice and rock.
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. No entrance reservation is required in 2026.
When to go
Flow is strongest in spring and early summer, when the waterwheel forms; the slide keeps running through dry months at a fraction of that volume.
On site
Swimming, wading and sliding are prohibited on the Merced from the top of Silver Apron down to Vernal Fall, Emerald Pool included. Dozens of people have died after losing their footing in this stretch and being swept over Vernal Fall just downstream. In July 2018 a 16-year-old slid down the apron into Emerald Pool, trapped a foot among submerged boulders and was freed by bystanders after 10 to 15 minutes, then lifted out by helicopter; three other hikers were treated for sliding injuries that same week. Stay out of the water and off the wet granite at its edge. Dogs are not allowed on the trail, and drinking water is available at Happy Isles and the Vernal Fall footbridge from May to October.
History and name
The upper, rougher section was known as Diamond Cascade by about 1870, and an 1872 Eadweard Muybridge photograph labels the fall "Wild Cat Fall," a name that did not stick.
Nearby
Vernal Fall is about 0.2 mile away and Nevada Fall about 0.4 mile, both on the same trail; Illilouette Fall is about 1.4 miles away.
Distances are straight-line.