Hike Tuolumne Falls and Glen Aulin

Pacific Crest Trail

In a national park that boasts Yosemite Falls and some of the world’s best waterfalls, a relatively modest cascade such as Tuolumne Falls is apt to be overlooked. And not only is it a fraction of the size of the park’s famed falls, it’s located far from Waterfall Central, the Yosemite Valley.

Tuolumne Falls’ allure arises at least as much from the footpath that reaches it as the falls itself. It’s a classic Yosemite backcountry hike along a sterling stretch of the Pacific Crest Trail. A highlight is passage along the Tuolumne River, which mesmerizes with its glistening stones, shimmering pools and dancing rapids.

In one way this is an atypical Yosemite high country hike; the trail doesn’t climb a peak or pass, but instead descends quite modestly to the falls. Those hikers missing the usual elevation change, and wishing to view three more waterfalls, can continue down the trail from Glen Aulin Camp.

At Glen Aulin, you can part company with the northbound Pacific Crest Trail and continue along the banks of the Tuolumne River. Visit California Falls with a 13-mile round trip, LeConte Falls with a 15-mile round trip, and the unusual Waterwheel Falls with a 16-mile round trip; it’s a 2,000-foot elevation gain to return to the trailhead.

The hike: Tramp the Old Tioga Road, a wagon road of 1883 vintage, as it edges along Tuolumne Meadows. Fork right after 0.4 mile and join the trail toward Soda Springs and Parsons Memorial Lodge. The John Muir Trail heads off southbound over the Tuolumne River bridge, while your route visits Soda Springs, where rust-tinted carbonated water bubbles up.

From the springs, follow the signs to Glen Aulin and begin a mellow meander northwest that passes a junction with a trail from the stable after 0.8 mile, soon thereafter crosses a branch of Delaney Creek, and passes a junction with the trail to Young Lakes after another 0.4 mile of travel.

Now you begin a traverse among great granite slabs and lodgepole pine. Where the trees give way, vistas open up to include Unicorn and Cathedral peaks.

After crossing Dingley Creek, you’ll reach the Tuolumne River about 2.5 miles from the trailhead. The PCT offers a 0.75 mile level contour along the river, then works its way up a granite outcropping which presents views of the river gorge below and Little Devil’s Postpile on the opposite bank. This basalt pillar was named for its volcanic kinship to rock formations in the National Park Service’s Devil’s Postpile National Monument.

The path soon descends via rock stairs, crosses the Tuolumne River on a bridge, and heads down-river alongside the frisky Tuolumne’s cascades to reach the top of Tuolumne Falls. Continue descending with the trail to the base of the falls, then past a lower Tuolumne Falls tumbler often called White Cascade.

PCT passes a junction with a connector trail leading to McGee Lake, then bends north to cross another bridge over the Tuolumne. The trail meets a short side path that leads over the Conness Creek bridge to Glen Aulin High Sierra Camp.

Yosemite Hiking Trails >>  
Hetch Hetchy | Mariposa Grove | Wawona Meadow | Glacier Point 4 Mile Trail
Glacier Point to Yosemite Valley | Half Dome Trail | Yosemite Falls | Vernal & Nevada Falls
May Lake | Cathedral Lakes | Clouds Rest | Gaylor Lakes | Lembert Dome | Lukens Lake
Merced Grove | Mirror Lake | Mono Pass | Mount Dana | North Dome | Taft Point
Ten Lakes | Tenaya Lake | Tuolumne Falls | Tuolumne Grove | Tuolumne Meadow