LeConte Falls

Given the presence of its waterwheels, many people mistake this waterfall for Waterwheel Falls. How do I know this? Well after my Memorial Day backpacking trip in 2004, I got home and downloaded my GPS waypoints onto the digital topo map. You could imagine my disappointment when I found out that we were short of the real Waterwheel Falls by less than a mile! So, I did what any waterfall nut would do and went back the following week... (click here to read more about my Waterwheel Falls escapades).

Now in all fairness, I don't blame anyone for getting this waterfall and the Waterwheel Falls confused. After all, you could make the argument that this waterfall has sections that look more like waterwheels than the giant "wheel" on Waterwheel Falls. Heck, even Ann Marie Brown got it wrong in the 2nd edition of her book.

This waterfall is roughly a half-mile further downstream of California Falls. If you don't know what you're looking for, it'd be hard to tell where California Falls ends and where LeConte Falls begins. Fortunately, there's a spur trail leading to the left taking you through a shady grove of trees and putting you right in the middle of LeConte Falls. And it's here that you can look down towards the series of lower waterwheels that makes this waterfall stand out. Just watch out for the slippery granite and relatively steep slope of this vantage point.

TRIP REPORTS

• May 30, 2004
• June 5, 2004

GUIDEBOOKS / OTHER RESOURCES

NEARBY WATERFALLS

• Tuolumne Falls
• White Cascade (Glen Aulin Falls)
• California Falls
• Waterwheel Falls

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