Cascade Falls (The Cascades)
Cascade Falls (also known as The Cascades) starts off as a series of tumbling waterfalls and cascades through a dense forest in the Western Yosemite High Country. However, as it gains momentum and combines with Tamarack Creek just below the Big Oak Flat Road, it plunges as an impressive 500ft waterfall before feeding the Merced River in the Merced Canyon. There are a variety of ways to see this waterfall (which we'll try to highlight below) despite its rather rugged location. The photo you see above was taken atop a granite exposed area near Turtleback Dome. You can scramble here by parking at the elongated pullout signposted W3 then finding a spot to hop over the wall and onto the granite below (nearby a tree on the side of the pullout furthest from Wawona Tunnel) then scramble a short distance downhill until you see this waterfall. You might also spot the upper part of Wildcat Falls from here as well! See the photographs below for some of the various way you can experience this waterfall. Tell us about your experience with this waterfall. [Back to top] [Go to next waterfall: Wildcat Falls] [Go to the Merced Canyon and Western Yosemite Waterfalls Page] [Go to the Yosemite Page] [Return from Cascade Falls to the World of Waterfalls Home Page]
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The main plunge from the roadside pullout in Merced Canyon (signpost M1 on the El Portal/Merced Road Route 140)
The Upper Cascades (right) along with Tamarack Creek (left) from the Big Oak Flat Road (signpost B3)
Looking up at the Cascades from a bridge on the Big Oak Flat Road (signpost B2)