Tuolumne Falls
Tuolumne Falls is the first major waterfall you'll encounter as you make your way from Tuolumne Meadows towards the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River. It probably has the most vertical drop of the Tuolumne River waterfalls. Therefore, it's one of the river's more photogenic ones as well. I've seen literature claiming it falls 100ft, but I'm more inclined to think that's true if you count some of the cascading sections above and below the main tier. As a matter of fact, the white water starts well above this waterfall at some footbridges and continues to cascade below the White Cascade. So who knows where this waterfall technically begins and ends? The Glen Aulin trailhead is about 7 miles west of Tioga Pass along Route 120. You can find along the side of the spur road leaving Route 120 near Lembert Dome. Or, if you don't mind walking an additional mile, you can park at the official backpacker's permit station further east along Route 120. You'll see this falls roughly 5.4 miles from and 500ft below Tuolumne Meadows. Thus, it's 10.8 miles round trip. With a bunch of other falls in the area, this sounds more like a backpack trip to me... Tell us about your experience with this waterfall. [Back to top] [Go to next waterfall: The White Cascade] [Go to the Tuolumne River and the High Country Waterfalls Page] [Go to the Yosemite Page] [Return from Tuolumne Falls to the World of Waterfalls Home Page]
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The falls as seen looking up from the banks of the Tuolumne River.
