Tokopah Falls, Cascading waterfall in Sequoia National Park, California.
Tokopah Falls is a waterfall in Sequoia National Park, California, where water drops over a series of granite steps at the end of a narrow valley. Tall, bare granite walls rise steeply on both sides of the stream, closing the valley into a tight rocky corridor.
During the last ice age, glaciers carved this valley out of solid granite, leaving behind the smooth walls and U-shaped floor that define it today. After the ice retreated, meltwater gradually carved the channel the falls now follow.
The trail passes through groves of giant sequoias and open mountain meadows where marmots and black bears are regularly spotted. Many visitors pause at the calmer stretches of the river on the way back, taking in the silence of the high Sierra.
The trail begins at Lodgepole Campground and follows the river upstream all the way to the base of the falls. Most of the path is wide and easy to follow, though the final stretch narrows and gains more elevation.
The name Tokopah comes from a Monache word meaning roughly "high rocky valley," and it is one of the few place names in the park drawn directly from the language of the people who lived there first. The granite walls around the falls are so pale and reflective that they glow visibly even after the sun drops below the ridge.
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