The Most Photographed Waterfalls in California

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

6 Comments

Posted in Waterfalls, Yosemite by leapin26: September 15, 2010

6 Responses to “The Most Photographed Waterfalls in California”

  1. Karen Schmautz Says:
    September 15th, 2010 at 8:51 am

    Leon: This pic is so beautiful.

  2. Leon Says:
    September 16th, 2010 at 6:46 am

    Thanks Karen.

  3. Michael K Says:
    September 19th, 2010 at 7:38 pm

    Great piece of research, Leon! I’m not surprised with the Yosemite NP waterfalls dominating the list, but surprised that Horsetail Falls made the list, as this ephemeral waterfall is unimpressive unless it is flowing well and photographed under the right lighting. I’m quite surprised that Berry Creek Falls, Middle McCloud Falls, and Rainbow Falls didn’t make the list somewhere.

  4. leapin26 Says:
    September 24th, 2010 at 5:35 am

    Thanks Michael. Rainbow Falls was just out of the top 10.

  5. Matt Says:
    September 26th, 2010 at 10:38 am

    While I would not agree with the ranking/methodology, I do think it’s an interesting subject for discussion.
    I agree the Yosemite falls would make up four or five of the Top 10
    Good work, Leon.

  6. leapin26 Says:
    September 27th, 2010 at 9:28 am

    Thank you, Matt. If you think you have a better methodology, please let me know! I am curious! 🙂

Leave a Reply