Waterfalls in California

California's waterfalls, from glacial granite to the edge of the Pacific

Glaciers, volcanoes and a young, rising coastline give California nearly every kind of waterfall setting there is. Granite hanging valleys cut by Ice Age ice hold the state's tallest drops around Yosemite; porous volcanic rock in the southern Cascades feeds falls that never run dry; and on two stretches of coast, creeks drop straight onto the sand or into the surf. California records 1,039 named waterfalls across 49 counties, concentrated above all in and around Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia national parks.

Where the waterfalls are

The Sierra Nevada carries most of the state's falls. Fresno County, Tulare County, Tuolumne County and Madera County hold the national-forest and national-park backcountry around Kings Canyon, Sequoia and northern Yosemite, while Mariposa County holds Yosemite Valley itself. Further north, granite basins around Lake Tahoe fill Placer County and El Dorado County, and volcanic country east of the crest holds Mono County and Inyo County.

The southern Cascades and northern Sierra foothills add a second cluster: Shasta County and Siskiyou County around Mount Shasta, and Butte County and Plumas County to the south. On the coast, Big Sur gives Monterey County its falls, and Marin County has the North Coast's, inside Point Reyes National Seashore. In Southern California, chaparral canyons in the national forests hold most of the falls in Los Angeles County and San Diego County.

Waterfalls worth the trip

• Yosemite Falls, 2,425 feet in three tiers, is the tallest waterfall in California and one of the tallest in North America. A paved loop, 1 mile round trip, reaches the base; the climb to the top is 7.2 miles round trip.
• Bridalveil Fall drops 620 feet at the entrance to Yosemite Valley and, fed by a basin to the south, flows all year; the paved path to the platform is a half-mile round trip.
• Vernal Fall, 290 feet, and Nevada Fall, 594 feet, form the Merced River's "giant staircase" on the Mist Trail; reaching the top of Nevada Fall is a 5.4-mile round trip with about 2,000 feet of climbing.
• Horsetail Falls on Pyramid Creek near Lake Tahoe drops 815 feet over seven lake-fed granite steps that run all year; the rough scramble to the base is a 2.8- to 3.3-mile round trip.
• Feather Falls, 410 feet in Plumas National Forest, reopened in October 2025 after its fire-damaged bridges and overlook were rebuilt; the loop trail is 8.7 miles round trip.
• Burney Falls, 114 feet over volcanic springs (the state park's own sign gives 129), is a short walk from the parking lot at McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park.
• McWay Falls, 80 feet, drops onto a beach at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park; its overlook trail is closed in 2026 for repairs and fire damage. Alamere Falls, 40 feet, reaches the ocean directly at the end of a roughly 13.2-mile round trip from the Palomarin trailhead at Point Reyes, on a beach route passable only at low tide.

When to go

Snowmelt falls in the high Sierra — Yosemite Falls, Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall among them — run strongest from March through June and largely disappear by late summer. Spring- and lake-fed falls run all year: Bridalveil, Horsetail Falls, Burney Falls and McWay Falls flow through summer and winter alike. Feather Falls peaks from January through June, and since wildfire burned the shade off its trail, a summer hike there now runs 10 to 20 degrees hotter. At Point Reyes, Alamere Falls is easiest to reach from late September into early November, when the beach route carries the most sand and skies are clearest.

Fees, permits and closures

Yosemite charges $35 per vehicle for seven days or $20 per person on foot or bicycle, plus $100 for non-US residents 16 and older without an annual or America the Beautiful pass; in 2026 the park is not using a timed-entry reservation system. California State Parks charge $10 a vehicle for day use at McWay Falls and Burney Falls, and Burney Falls requires weekend and holiday reservations from mid-May through late September 2026. National forest trailheads add their own charges, from $10 a day at Pyramid Creek and Feather Falls to a $5 Adventure Pass at Switzer Falls and a $6 Recreation.gov permit for Cedar Creek Falls in San Diego County.

Wildfire has reshaped access at both ends of the state. Eaton Canyon Falls near Los Angeles has been closed since the January 2025 Eaton Fire, through 2027, and two 2026 fires near Big Sur keep Julia Pfeiffer Burns' backcountry closed east of Highway 1. Mossbrae Falls near Dunsmuir has no legal public trail: the only approach follows an active rail line, and the city's planned path is still unfunded.

Safety

Several of California's best-known falls have proven fatal. Three hikers were swept over Vernal Fall in July 2011, and at least 17 people have gone over the same fall since 1924; a hiker was swept over Nevada Fall in June 2026 after a swift-water incident above the brink. A visitor died in 2019 after climbing the wet boulders above Bridalveil Fall, and a man died in 2018 after jumping from Burney Falls, where swimming at the base is banned. Stay on marked trails and behind railings, and keep back from the edge of any fall.