Upper Snow Creek Falls is a 750-foot waterfall on Snow Creek in Mariposa County, California, in the Sierra Nevada region. It lies about 3.1 miles northeast of Yosemite Valley and roughly 61.1 miles northeast of Merced as the crow flies.
At 750 feet it stands in the tallest quarter of California’s 286 waterfalls with a recorded height, ranking 19th; 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. Snow Creek carries 2 recorded waterfalls, and Upper Snow Creek Falls is the tallest of them.
Mariposa County holds 55 recorded waterfalls, and several are close by. Snow Creek Falls, a 600-foot tiered horsetail waterfall, is under a mile away. Tenaya Falls, an 88-foot segmented plunge waterfall, is under a mile away. Royal Arch Cascade, a 1,250-foot veiling horsetail waterfall, is about 2.4 miles away.
Upper Snow Creek Falls is located at 37.7702° N, 119.5358° 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 exact position has not yet been verified on aerial imagery, so treat the map pin as approximate. Details on trails, parking and access have not been documented for this waterfall yet.