Horsetail Falls (aka "The Firefall")

To maximize your likelihood of seeing the falls in its firefall state, you'll need two things to work for you.

1. The falls needs to be flowing. This generally occurs when the snowpack above El Capitan is melting (which can be as early as December or January but tends to be strongest in the March-April timeframe in a typical year).
2. The sun needs to set in the right position to make the falls' profile glow orange or red. This occurs from around January until the last week of February (though I've learned later that it's really mid- to late February when the lighting is most dramatic at sunset).

To get the best of both worlds (i.e. flow and light), you'll want to be here in that narrow window of mid- to late February assuming the weather cooperates (i.e. no clouds blocking the sun's rays) and you don't have one of those erroneous years with inadequate snowpack.

By the way, the firefall was a spectacle that took place back in Yosemite's early days. It consisted of people getting up to Glacier Point, setting dead branches on fire, and throwing them over the cliff to the valley over a thousand feet below. Obviously this delighted summer holiday-makers at what was then Camp Curry (now Curry Village). But eventually this practice was discontinued as it didn't fit the National Park principle of natural beauty.

There are also other pullouts along this unsigned stretch of road yielding views of Horsetail Falls above and between pine trees, but once again since the road is one-way, it’s worth slowing down and not being too picky about where you're parking because you might end up driving a large loop just to get back to this point.

Below are some photos of the ephemeral waterfall in its non-firefall state - which you're more likely to encounter if you happen to see it.

[Back to top]

No firefall effect in this photo, but it certainly looks ghostly.


The wispy waterfall in morning light



View World of Waterfalls in a larger map

TRIP REPORTS

• March 20, 2004
• February 24, 2006

GUIDEBOOKS / OTHER RESOURCES

NEARBY WATERFALLS

• Ribbon Falls
• Yosemite Falls
• Sentinel Falls
• Bridalveil Fall
• Silver Strand Falls
• Widow's Tears
• Cascade Falls
• Wildcat Falls

Have You Been To This Waterfall?

Share your experience!

Click here to see visitor comments for this waterfall

Click here to see visitor comments for other waterfalls that we've visited in this region

Click here to go to the Comments Main Page