Leon Turnbull Photography

I have been curious lately about what would be considered the “most photographed” waterfalls in California.  Obviously, Yosemite Falls would certainly be number one (and it was, by a very long shot). But I have heard people say McWay Falls and Eagle Falls are right up there in the number two or three position. Well, I decided to try to determine this. But how could one possibly find this out?

Well, here is my highly unscientific method. I browsed through the search listings on Flickr, which is the top photographer’s posting site on the web. The listings on Flickr should give (in my mind) an average estimation of reality. So with a bit of work, I came up with a very rough idea about the order. There were a few surprises. I thought Bridalveil would be number two, and I did think McWay and Eagle would be further up the list then they were. Alamere Falls was definitely a huge surprise.

So without further ado, here are the top 10 photographed waterfalls in all of California:

1. Yosemite Falls

2. Vernal Falls

3. Bridalveil Falls

4. Nevada Falls

5. Burney Falls

6. Alamere Falls

7. McWay Falls

8. Eagle Falls

9. Horsetail Falls (Yosemite)

10. Feather Falls

Here’s another one from Lundy Canyon. This is a lovely triple falls, 85 ft. high in total. To get to this spot, I had to cross the creek above the first fall, then scramble down to this spot. There were a lot of wildflowers in bloom on this side, as you can see, but I couldn’t really get a good composition that I liked. I had to shoot from higher up to get the best view, and thus the wildflowers were further away than what I would have preferred. And it is too bad the creek doesn’t have a lot more flow in it as well. But it is still a very pretty scene for sure.

This is cascade # 3 along the trail up to Paradise Meadows in Lassen NP. It is another pretty one, and it is about 20 feet high or so. I could not measure this one (or #4) because the battery in my laser rangefinder conked out. Bummer.

Here’s another little tidbit for you. This is not really the West Fork Hat Creek. None of these waterfalls are on the West Fork Hat Creek. They are actually all on an unnamed stream, which flows into the West Fork. But certain authors of certain guidebooks have called this series of falls West Fork Hat Creek Falls. I personally think they should be called Paradise Meadows Falls. But who am I to argue.

I believe this peak is called the Matterhorn, part of the Sawtooth Ridge in the Eastern Sierra. This ridge of mountains above Twin Lakes near Bridgeport is so very striking and interesting, and I was hoping to get some spectacular sunset colors above these peaks but that was not to be. However, I did get some nice dramatic evening clouds above this peak from the Horse Creek meadow, and I stopped to take advantage.

This is Upper Horse Creek Falls, 82 ft. high. It is a very pretty waterfall. I was a bit shocked to see all the yellow bushes around the base of the falls. You might think this shot was taken in October. But this is the end of August, and they are changing color already? The Aspens are still very green, but I’m not sure why the other bushes are yellow yet (I know they are not yellow all year). Anyway, I think this might be a very pretty scenic waterfall to shoot when the Aspens are changing as well.

After shooting Lundy Canyon in the morning, I drove into Lee Vining, had lunch, and then took a nap in the afternoon. My original plan was to shoot sunset at Mono Lake, sleep overnight in my vehicle somewhere, then get up in the morning to do another hike. However … the entire area was covered in heavy stormy clouds, it was starting to rain, and it sure did not look like there would be much of a sunset at Mono Lake. I thought to myself, well what should I do? I could stick around and hope the skies clear for sunset. It was a possibility. But there was another option. I could just skip Mono Lake, do my other hike in the afternoon, and drive home that same night. I was very tired from my morning hike in Lundy Canyon, and was not sure I could do another high elevation 4 mile hike. But the nap refreshed me and gave me energy back. Plus, I didn’t really want to stay the night in Lee Vining anyway. I would be kicking myself if there ended up being a spectacular sunset at Mono Lake, but I decided on Plan B. (as it turned out, the clouds seemed to get worse by sunset, and I don’t think there was much of a sunset at Mono Lake that evening – whew).

So I drove up to Twin Lakes at Bridgeport and started hiking up to Horse Creek Falls. The hike gains 1100 ft. of elevation in 2 miles, but the grade was very gentle and easy going. I felt very good and had no troubles with the hike. I noticed that there are tons of deer around Twin Lakes. In fact, I think I saw more deer on this day, then I have in the past 3 years total. I think the campers feed them (which is not very smart), as I saw one person hand feeding one deer, and another one I saw on the trail walked right up to me (looking for a handout, I guess). It was quite tame but I had no handout for her, so continued on past. There are two waterfalls on Horse Creek. The first one is a big one, and I think most people do not even realize it is here, or how big it is anyway. The trail comes to the bottom of the cascade, then switches back well away from the creek, and comes back to it at the top of the waterfall. The total height of the waterfall is about 360 feet. But from the trail, you can only see the bottom part of it, and when the creek flow is low, it does not look very impressive. In the spring it would look a lot more interesting. On my way back down, I hiked right alongside of it from the top to the bottom (off the main trail), and I found some good spots to photograph it. It is definitely a fabulous cascade.

Upper Horse Creek Falls is 82 ft. high, and is a much prettier waterfall and the trail goes right beside it (and thus, I think more people stop here to look at this one). This one looks nicer when the flow is lower as well, as it comes down in many small rivulets. It is a beautiful hike, I think I’ll definitely be back here someday.