Now that I've talked about this waterfall in terms of the backcountry, you've probably guessed by now that this isn't a day hike waterfall though there's nothing to stop you from doing it as a day hike.

According to my GPS trip log it's about 6.6 miles one-way from the Lake Sabrina trailhead to the base of this waterfall. However, you go from 9000ft to 11,000ft in elevation and it's conceivable that the GPS trip log underestimated the overall distance thanks to the numerous switchbacks during climbs (it could be roughly 8 miles or more each way) so it's a difficult hike either way.

I visited this waterfall as part of a three-day two-night overnight backpack, and I found that even splitting up the distance over three days (though we were carrying extra pack weight) was still difficult. The swarms of mosquitoes also didn't make the hike any easier.

But considering all the physical exertion required at high altitude for Moonlight Falls, the real reason people go out here is for the pretty glacial lakes and the impressive peaks, which still had lots of snow on them even during our trip in mid-August! Some of the natural lakes we encountered on this excursion were Blue Lake, Dingleberry Lake, Topsy Turvy Lake, Pee Wee Lake, Sailor Lake, Hungry Packer Lake, and Moonlight Lake. They each have sharp granite peaks backing them, which makes for nice photographs. Overnight backpackers also have the chance to capture the scenery with alpenglow.

And finally as a bonus, there are additional waterfalls and/or mountain cascades you'll notice during this excursion. I suppose I could've made separate pages for a few of them, but I just decided to clump them all into this page since I doubt you'd be going out of your way to see them by themselves.