Silver Strand Falls, Seasonal waterfall in Yosemite Valley, United States

Silver Strand Falls is a seasonal waterfall in Yosemite Valley that drops along Meadow Brook in a thin, ribbon-like stream down the granite cliff face. The water flows in a delicate pattern shaped by the natural contours of the rock.

The name Widow's Tears was once applied to Silver Strand Falls, but it now belongs to a lower-volume waterfall one drainage east of Meadow Brook, which is thought to drop 1,170 feet (360 m); this shift explains the confusion over heights. The figure of 1,170 feet is not supported by field survey or by the topo sheet, and a recent 1:24,000 map of Yosemite Valley gives 400 feet (120 m) for Silver Strand, while 574 feet (175 m) comes from ice climbers.

The name Widow's Tears once referred to Silver Strand Falls, but it now belongs to a lower-volume waterfall one drainage east of Meadow Brook, which is thought to drop 1,170 feet (360 m). That shift explains why old height figures for Silver Strand are still repeated. Both falls are fed only by melting snow and run dry by mid-June in a normal year.

The falls are best viewed from Tunnel View Overlook, where visitors can see the waterfall from a distance across the valley. Water flow is strongest between March and June when snow melts at higher elevations.

The true height of this waterfall remains debated because different measurement methods produce varying results between roughly 120 and 175 meters. The variation comes from the difficulty of measuring the exact length along the irregular rock face.