Staircase Falls (Yosemite National Park, California, USA)

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Staircase Falls

Staircase Falls from Stoneman Meadow

Staircase Falls is one of two officially named ephemeral waterfalls (the other being Horsetail Falls).

It got its name from the way its watercourse steps down a series of granite ledges. Given its short-lived nature, it's quite easy to overlook this waterfall, but it's also easy to miss it completely even if you're looking in the right place because the timing's off.

So what exactly is this timing?

Well in my experience, I managed to see it flow fairly well as early as March and as late as late April. Even though May is peak snowmelt season, this waterfall seems to end its show by then. Once again, it's completely dependent on the extent of the snowpack and how quickly the weather warms up. I'd say the longevity of the falls on an average snowpack year is probably 2 or 3 weeks tops.

Directions: You can find this waterfall stepping its way down the granite cliffs behind Curry Village. For the best view of it without the trees getting in the way, walk out to Stoneman Meadow. There's a boardwalk traversing the meadow, and it's from that boardwalk that you can look back towards Curry Village and see the full extent of this waterfall.

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More recent photo of Staircase Falls

More recent (June 2011) photo of Staircase Falls

Contextual view of the falls from Stoneman Meadow

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Bottom up sweep and context of the falls from Stoneman Meadow

Left to right semi-circular sweep of the panorama from the boardwalk crossing Stoneman Meadow

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TRIP REPORTS

For more information about our experiences with this waterfall, check out the following travel stories.

June 3, 2011

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Short Hike, Amazing Results! Not rated yet
I had some time to kill while staying at Camp Curry & this fall's stream ran right by my cabin.

Following the river with the late winter moss covered ...

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