Tokopah Falls is a 1,120-foot tiered cascade on the Marble Fork of the Kaweah River in Sequoia National Park, California, sliding down the granite headwall at the top of the glacier-carved Tokopah Valley. An easy trail from Lodgepole Campground follows the river to the foot of the falls.
The falls
The Marble Fork begins as smooth waterslides at the top of the headwall, then steepens into alternating plunges and cascades on a run nearly half a mile long. A lidar survey measured the drop at 1,120 feet; the Park Service gives 1,200 feet. On the walk in, the granite tower of the Watchtower rises about 1,600 feet above the valley floor.
Getting there
The trailhead is just past the Marble Fork bridge inside Lodgepole Campground; park in the large lot near the campground entrance or the overflow lot, which has accessible spaces by the restrooms. In summer the free Sequoia Shuttle stops at the trailhead. The walk is 3.4 miles round trip with about 600 feet of gradual climb, roughly two hours; some guides measure up to 4.2 miles.
Sequoia and Kings Canyon 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. Vehicles longer than 22 feet are not recommended on the Generals Highway between Hospital Rock and Wolverton.
When to go
Flow peaks with snowmelt in late spring and early summer. By autumn the falls are usually a trickle, and in poor snow years they can dry up. Lodgepole Campground closes in winter, which effectively closes the trail; late-season hikers have found the upper half icy.
On site
The trail is unpaved, with bridges, steps and a rocky moraine of large boulders near the falls; it is not wheelchair accessible. Dogs are not allowed. Powerful undercurrents in the Marble Fork have swept visitors downstream, and the snowmelt is cold enough to cause hypothermia. Yellow-bellied marmots often sun themselves on the rocks near the falls, and deer and black bears live in the valley.
History and name
Tokopah is a Wuksachi, or Western Mono, word meaning "high." Superintendent John R. White and George W. Stewart gave the name to the upper valley of the Marble Fork.
Nearby
Panther Creek Falls is about 5.1 miles away, Lonely Lake Falls about 5.3 miles and Marble Falls, in the Foothills area of the park, about 6.9 miles.
Distances are straight-line.