Rancheria Falls (Hetch Hetchy)
Hetch Hetchy, Yosemite National Park · near Groveland · Sierra Nevada / Yosemite
Hiking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- strenuous
- Route type
- out-and-back
- Distance
- 13 miles
- Elevation gain
- 1,300 ft
- Time needed
- day
- Best season
- April–June (waterfalls peak) & fall
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- No
- How the permit works
- No day-hiking permit; Hetch Hetchy has a gated entrance with limited hours (day-use only unless you have a backpacking permit). Lower elevation means an early-season option when the high country is still snowbound.
- How hard the permit is to get
- 1 of 5
What is here
- Features
- Yosemite without the crowds · Wapama & Tueeulala Falls · Reservoir-side granite · Early-season waterfalls
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Not permitted
- Good for a first timer
- No
Hiking detail
- Intl tip
- Come in spring (April–June) for the waterfalls at full roar — but check conditions, as Wapama Falls can flood its footbridges dangerously in peak snowmelt and rangers sometimes close that section. Hetch Hetchy's entrance gate has limited day-use hours; confirm before you go. This is the Yosemite hike for solitude and early-season waterfalls.
The guide
Hetch Hetchy is the Yosemite Valley that was — a glacially carved granite valley every bit as grand as its famous twin, now par…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Rancheria Falls (Hetch Hetchy) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 37.949, -119.777