In order to see this waterfall, you're gonna have to earn it. It's an 8-mile return hike with some appreciable elevation gain as you get closer to the falls though most of the trail starts of pretty flat and fairly shaded. In fact, the trail to the falls is shared with backpackers going to the popular Paradise Valley. Overnighters could then continue onto the John Muir Trail deep in the heart of the Sierras. But the trail to just the falls is definitely long enough and there are other backpacking trails branching off this trail (like that along Bubbs Creek) that the crowds thin out the further you go.

As the canyon carved out by the South Fork Kings River narrows, the trail climbs and it's in this stretch that if you turn around and look at the granite formations in the distance (or you could always wait until you're returning from the falls), you might be able to make out the formation known as the Sphinx.