Yosemite's Best Spring Canyon Hike Is A Less Crowded Trek Past Breathtaking Waterfalls

Ah, Yosemite: The jewel in the crown of California's Sierra Nevada. Millions of people arrive every year for the soul-satisfying hike up the iconic Half Dome, or to scale Taft Point for the some of the best views of Yosemite Valley. This wonderland of waterfalls and soaring sequoias has oodles of outdoors adventure up its sleeve. That said, hiking in spring can be tricky, since snow can persist well into June in the high sierras. That's where the trek to Rancheria Falls comes in.

It's a 13-mile route that skirts the edge of a large reservoir before diverting up a riverway to finish at its namesake waterfall. The whole thing takes place in the Hetch Hetchy area of Yosemite, often hailed as one of the best options for spring walking because it sits at a lower altitude than Yosemite Valley — one is at 3,660 feet, while the other hits 3,960 feet. On top of that, the trail passes through prime waterfall country, with peak flows coming in April and May.

To get here, aim for the Hetch Hetchy Entrance to the Yosemite National Park. It's around an hour's drive north of Yosemite Valley, and about 1.5 hours from the Gold Rush-era gateway town of Mariposa. Access to the Hetch Hetchy trailheads — Rancheria Falls included — is limited to daylight hours, so be sure you're out by the time the gate shuts!

The Rancheria Falls trail bisects the Hetch Hetchy Valley, a cleft in the Sierra Nevada that gets just a fraction of the attention of the more iconic parts of the national park. The whole thing was flooded back in 1923 with the construction of the O'Shaughnessy Dam, keeping the development of campsites and road access to a minimum. Today, Hetch Hetchy gets around 50,000 visitors compared to Yosemite Valley's five million, so your route to the waterfall won't be as busy as some trails in the area!

The route begins at the day-use parking area on the Hetch Hetchy Road, right beside the big dam. From there, you'll walk along the northern side of the reservoir on an undulating trail, hopping rocks and passing under the mist plumes of various waterfalls. Eventually, the path leaves the reservoir behind and passes into a gorge under the granite walls of Le Conte Point, where you move between boulders until you find the multi-tiered cascades of Rancheria.

There's a designated hike-in campground close to the end of the trail, so you might be surprised to find people up at the waterfalls by the time you arrive. You'll also want to watch out for poison oak, mosquitoes, and bears, which are known to be common on this route. The waterfalls present another major hazard — there are times, usually in the spring, when they flow so strongly that the trail becomes impassable and downright dangerous.

There's water to be seen every step of the way on the Rancheria Falls hike. Not only do you walk around the northern side of a 117-billion-gallon reservoir, but the path also crosses multiple streams and waterfalls that flow down from the high Sierra Nevada. Water falling from above is very much the defining natural feature of the trail.

The first falls you'll glimpse will likely be Tueeulala Falls. They're even visible from the parking area near the trailhead, and impress with a wispy, narrow stream that plunges 840 feet from a ridge of granite overhead. Not far along from those, the Wapama Falls take over. They're a much wilder beast, roaring in great cataracts of over 1,000 feet. They often smash straight into a series of bridges that you need to take to complete the hike, so prepare to get wet and be ready to turn back if the flow is too strong.

The Rancheria Falls themselves are a bit different to the usual big-drop falls Yosemite is known for. They're divided into several tiers and sections, starting with a strong gush of water along a granite cliff and ending as the falls spread across a flatter piece of rock surrounded by pine trees. Swimming is strictly prohibited in the reservoir and within a mile of its banks, so don't be tempted to take a dip.