Wapama Falls is the larger of two waterfalls located on the northern wall of

Hetch Hetchy Valley Hetch Hetchy is a valley, a reservoir, and a water system in California in the United States. The glacial Hetch Hetchy Valley lies in the northwestern part of Yosemite National Park and is drained by the Tuolumne River. For thousands of years bef ...

Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ar ...

. It flows almost year-round and during peak flow has been known to inundate the trail bridge crossing its base, making the falls impossible to pass. The falls consist of two primary drops angled roughly 60 degrees to each other, and a broad cascade at its base. Wapama Falls is fed by

Lake Vernon Lake Vernon is located in the Tiltill Valley in the northern sector of Yosemite National Park just north of Hetch Hetchy Valley. The surface elevation of the lake is . Due to the remote location of the lake, it is usually only accessed as a back ...

, a few miles to the north, and is below

Hetch Hetchy Dome Hetch Hetchy Dome is a granite dome, in the Hetch Hetchy area of Yosemite National Park. On Hetch Hetchy Dome's particulars Aside from being aside Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, Hetch Hetchy Dome is near Kolana Rock. Hetch Hetchy Dome Dome has a fe ...

. Wapama Falls descends just under 1,100 feet. Like

Yosemite Falls Yosemite Falls is the highest waterfall in Yosemite National Park, dropping a total of from the top of the upper fall to the base of the lower fall. Located in the Sierra Nevada of California, it is a major attraction in the park, especially in ...

, it has three distinct parts. The topmost is a free drop of perhaps 300 feet, followed by a steeply-cascading stream which descends 600 feet in a steep-sided gorge, much like the stream between Upper and Lower Yosemite Fall. These cascades cannot be seen in their entirety from the trail: such a view is seen from across the Valley high on

Kolana Rock Kolana Rock is a prominent granite dome located along the southern edge of Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park. John Muir stated that ''Kolana'' was the Indian name for the rock. It towers above the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, and is across ...

. Finally, the bottom drop, seen from the dam and intimately from the trail, is one of about 200 feet down an escarpment that is not vertical, but in high water the water shoots outward to clear this descent. Visitors can reach Wapama Falls by hiking up Hetch Hetchy Reservoir Trail from O'Shaughnessy Dam.

External links

Waterfalls of Yosemite National Park Landforms of Tuolumne County, California Tiered waterfalls {{Yosemite-stub