If Horsetail Fall is flowing in February and the weather conditions are just right, the setting sun illuminates the waterfall, making it glow orange and red. Firefall photo (left) courtesy of the Yosemite Archives. Pedestrians will also be prohibited from traveling on or adjacent to the road in this area. As pictured above, you can see the mountainous backdrop giving the attractive falls some context while adding to its scenic allure.I managed to visit this waterfall with Julie in the late morning in September 2001 as well as with a high school buddy of mine during the late afternoon in August 2010. Horsetail Falls, Mariposa: See 4 reviews, articles, and 4 photos of Horsetail Falls, ranked No.8 on Tripadvisor among 16 attractions in Mariposa. We are independently owned so content written by us merely reflect our own opinions.Copyright 2020 World Of Waterfalls, All Rights ReservedAffiliate Disclosure: We receive compensation from companies whose products or services are used, referenced, or reviewed regardless of whether we endorse or criticize them. From this point onwards, the terrain was more vegetated but still quite exposed to sunlight.Eventually after an hour or so of hiking mostly uphill, we could see both Red and White Mountains looming large in front of us. Horsetail Falls is a fairly common waterfall name so the one depicted here pertains to a waterfall found while hiking along the McGee Creek Trail near the Mammoth Lakes area.. The fall occurs on the east side of El Capitan. However, in recent years, visitation around this event has increased dramatically. Once we got off US395, we went straight at the four-way intersection and proceeded to drive the 3-mile road to its end (the last mile or so was unpaved).The trailhead for this falls is at the end of the McGee Creek Road near the McGee Creek Pack Station.No users have submitted a write-up/review of this waterfallJohnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Horsetail Falls is a 500-800ft cascading waterfall requiring route-finding and scrambling in the Desolation Wilderness near South Lake Tahoe, California. To view Horsetail Fall, park at Yosemite Falls parking (just west of Yosemite Valley Lodge) and walk 1.5 miles (each way) to the viewing area near El Capitan Picnic Area. About two miles past the town of Strawberry, you will see a pull-out on your right with a parking lot. From Cathedral Beach Picnic Area to Sentinel Beach Picnic Area, the area between the road and the Merced River (including the river) will also be closed to all entry.El Capitan Crossover (the road connecting Northside and Southside Drives near El Capitan) will be open to vehicles, but parking, stopping, and unloading passengers will be prohibited. Without horseback, it’s a long hike just to even get to Steelhead Lake (the first of the lakes we noticed on the map beyond Horsetail Falls). Even some haze or minor cloudiness can greatly diminish or eliminate the effect. Horsetail Falls is perhaps the most well known ephemeral waterfall in Yosemite National Park. Although entirely natural, the phenomenon is reminiscent of the human-caused Firefall that historically occurred from Glacier Point. In fact, the photo you see at the top of this page was taken from around this sun-exposed area.On the return, we got to look forward to the fact that it was all downhill. Horsetail Fall, located in Yosemite National Park in California, is a seasonal waterfall that flows in the winter and early spring. We are independently owned so content written by us merely reflect our own opinions. But since I only hiked this trail to Horsetail Falls, I’ll describe the trail only up to the falls.The hike began from a parking lot at the McGee Creek Trailhead (see Shortly after we embarked on the hike, we were immediately confronted with a fork in the trail – one upper and one lower. Visitors spilled onto riverbanks, increasing erosion and trampling vegetation. Horsetail Falls California Stock Photos and Images (362) Narrow your search: Black & white. Southside Drive will be open to vehicles, but parking, stopping, and unloading passengers will be prohibited between El Capitan Crossover to Swinging Bridge Picnic Area. But it barely took us an hour to make it all the way back to the trailhead.Horsetail Falls resides in the Inyo National Forest near the In our visits to Horsetail Falls, we’ve always based ourselves in the Then, we headed about 8 miles south then exited at McGee Creek Road on the right. In fact, most of the hike involved meandering between tall peaks, including the aptly named Red Mountain and White Mountain. The Awahneechee Indians, who lived in Yosemite Valley for hundreds of years, most likely knew of its existence, but there is no evidence they passed this information on to white settlers. It’s just that the lower trail seemed flatter (it even splits again along the way before converging again) until it eventually had to go up switchbacks to rejoin the upper trail.