Bridalveil Falls

Height of falls:
 620 feet
Watercourse:
 Bridalveil Creek
Elevation of crest:
 4787 feet
click for a larger picture
Almost as famous as Yosemite Falls, this is the falls that travellers arriving from the south see first. That first view of the valley, the impossibly perfect postcard view from the Wawona Tunnel, is one of the most famous in California, made even more dramatic by the way one bursts suddenly upon it from the darkness of the tunnel. Travellers from the west and northwest also used to see Bridalveil as they entered the valley, from the riverbank at Valley View, but the one-way road system now reserves this sight for last.

Bridalveil Creek is a classic example of a hanging valley -- a side valley formed by a tributary glacier that flowed out on top of the main Merced glacier. It gets its name (and also its Indian name of Pohono, "puffing wind") from the way the afternoon up-canyon breezes blow it back and forth. Sometimes the wind is strong enough to send spray back up over the lip of the fall -- in late summer it may briefly stop the falls altogether.

Bridalveil is easily viewed by walking a few hundred yards from the parking lot, through a beautiful grove of bigleaf maples. This is one of the best places in the valley for Pacific dogwood and in May their huge white flowers shimmer everywhere against the dark background of conifers. There are also some giant Douglas firs, flourishing in this moist shady corner of the valley.

Though Bridalveil Creek seldom dries up completely, it shrinks to a gauzy wisp by late summer. At this time of year it is possible to clamber over jumbled boulders from the official viewpoint to the broad green pool at the base of the falls. When the flow of water is very small, it is an incomparable experience to swim under the falls itself - but beware, the water falls free for over 600 feet and can easily drive one under.
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