Sardine Falls

Sonora Pass / Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, California, USA

About Sardine Falls

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Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

Sardine Falls (also called Sardine Creek Falls) was a high elevation waterfall that definitely took our breath away.

Not only did it feature an attractive 75ft drop (possibly higher due to additional drops and cascades further downstream), but my Mom and I had to go on an adventure to experience it.

Sardine_Falls_099_06242016 - Sardine Falls
Sardine Falls

Our adventure started at a trailhead that was already in the thin air at 8,000ft.

We also had to get our feet wet in icy cold water while doing a little bit of route finding since the “trail” crossed a high-flowing Sardine Creek, and it was ill-defined in spots.

Indeed, the hike itself was not officially marked, and we had our doubts about whether we were going to be successful.

Fortunately, as you can see in the photo above, our persistence paid off.

Overall, the hike ended up being 2.5 miles round trip, and it took my Mom and I a little over 2 hours to do it.

Sardine_Falls_001_06242016 - Contextual view of Sardine Falls from the Sonora Pass Highway
Contextual view of Sardine Falls from the Sonora Pass Highway

Our visit just so happened to have been timed for the peak of the snowmelt, which probably explained the marshy and high-water conditions that we had experienced.

But at the end of the day, sometimes it’s the adventure combined with the reward that makes the experience so memorable, and we can definitely attest to that in this case.

Sardine Falls Hike Description –

Sardine Falls was well-positioned enough that we did notice it backed by mountains still clinging to snow from the Sonora Pass Highway.

So we knew we were in the right neighborhood to start hiking towards it.

Sardine_Falls_172_06242016 - Looking across Sardine Meadow past a 'No Motor Vehicles' sign as we got started on our hike to Sardine Falls
Looking across Sardine Meadow past a ‘No Motor Vehicles’ sign as we got started on our hike to Sardine Falls

We started off from an unmarked pullout at Sardine Meadow (see directions below).

The only hints that we could leverage about this starting point were a couple of signs – one saying “No Motorized Vehicles” and another saying “Be Extra Careful With Fire”.

From here, we followed some faint tire tracks probably from a 4wd vehicle that essentially blazed the “trail” here.

The tracks passed through Sardine Meadow with some parts of it depressed enough to form puddles and mud.

Sardine_Falls_040_06242016 - Mom enduring the icy cold water of Sardine Creek on this crossing with shoes off
Mom enduring the icy cold water of Sardine Creek on this crossing with shoes off

Barely 10 minutes into the hike through the meadow, we encountered a crossing of Sardine Creek.

This particular crossing caused us to take off our hiking boots, then wade across the ankle-deep stream in water sandals or just going barefoot.

The water was icy cold, and had the crossing been any longer than it was, then it might not have been doable without inflicting additional pain and possible frost-bite damage.

Beyond the creek crossing, after putting back on our wool socks and hiking boots, we then continued following the tire tracks, which were once again pretty obvious to follow.

Sardine_Falls_052_06242016 - Mom continuing to follow the dirt tracks that eventually became more of a foot trail on the way to Sardine Falls
Mom continuing to follow the dirt tracks that eventually became more of a foot trail on the way to Sardine Falls

At some point, the tracks became dirt trail, and eventually, the “road” stopped near a hill.

By this point, the trail narrowed even more while it was clear that further progress had to have been on foot.

The uphill onto the hill was mild, but since this hike was taking place at 8,000ft, I could see how it could be taxing had we not been acclimated to the altitude.

Anyhow, beyond the hill, we meandered through more conventional trail as it skirted Sardine Creek in spots (even revealing some unnamed informal cascades).

Sardine_Falls_061_06242016 - Passing by a side cascade backed in the presence of some attractive mountains as we continued to get closer to Sardine Falls
Passing by a side cascade backed in the presence of some attractive mountains as we continued to get closer to Sardine Falls

The trail branched where there was some overgrowth (where we had a choice of whether to go through the overgrowth or take the more open path – they both led to the same place).

Throughout this stretch, we were treated to nice views of attractive mountains (some of them with a reddish color) still clinging onto snow while also contrasting with the deep blue skies in morning light.

Roughly 20 minutes or so beyond the hill, we encountered another minor stream crossing before we were finally starting to see Sardine Falls.

In order to improve our views, we had to cross parts of a segmented Sardine Creek, where we managed to keep our feet dry though we needed to find some rocks or fallen trees in the creek to do so.

Sardine_Falls_080_06242016 - Mom about to cross part of Sardine Creek to get closer to the Sardine Falls
Mom about to cross part of Sardine Creek to get closer to the Sardine Falls

Eventually, we were able to hike all the way to the base of the main drop of Sardine Falls.

We had to climb up a pretty steep scramble just to get up to a part where the waterfall had cut a slit through a rock at its base.

While we were enjoying the falls, we noticed some refreshingly fragrant mint smells, and it turned out that they came from wild mints that were growing in bunches near the falls.

After having our fill of Sardine Falls from this spot, we scrambled a little more for more direct views of the falls.

Sardine_Falls_082_06242016 - Finally making it to the front of Sardine Falls
Finally making it to the front of Sardine Falls

The photo you see at the top of this page was the result of that effort.

I’m sure we could have tried to figure out a way to cross another segment of Sardine Creek while keeping dry to get even closer to the waterfall.

That would have yielded a very different (and more direct) perspective of Sardine Falls than earlier, but we were pretty content to not do that.

And so after having our fill of the falls, we returned the way we came.

Sardine_Falls_117_06242016 - Mom looking back at Sardine Creek as we were trying to figure out what was causing all the mint smell around Sardine Falls. It turned out that there were wild mints growing here!
Mom looking back at Sardine Creek as we were trying to figure out what was causing all the mint smell around Sardine Falls. It turned out that there were wild mints growing here!

The return hike was much easier, and we even chose the more overgrown paths that we had avoided earlier on since they were more direct and we knew where we were going now.

Once again, we had to change shoes and wade across the initial Sardine Creek crossing before regaining the faint trail across Sardine Meadow.

But that was the last obstacle we faced before finally regaining our parked car.

Authorities

Sardine Falls resides in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest near Bridgeport in Mono County, California. It is administered by the USDA Forest Service. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website.

Maps and Routing Content are for annual members. See Membership Options.
Content is for members. See Membership Options.
Tagged with: sonora pass, humboldt, toiyabe, national forest, bridgeport, lee vining, mono lake, mammoth lakes, topaz lake, south lake tahoe, california, mono county, sierra, waterfall



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Johnny Cheng

About Johnny Cheng

Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
Read More About Johnny | A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls.