Bridalveil Fall

Bridalveil Fall

Bridalveil Fall is a short, easy hike, and a must stop on your first visit to Yosemite Valley. Though Bridalveil Fall is shorter than Yosemite Falls (it falls a mere 620 feet), it might be more heavily photographed, since it's visible from the Tunnel View.

It also produces a heavier mist than Yosemite Falls. This photograph wasn't taken from the Bridalveil Fall trail, or even from the trailhead parking lot, but from along Southside Drive half a mile from the falls, yet I was still getting hit by intermittent waves of mist. If you hike the 0.6 mile trail all the way to the Bridalveil Fall Vista, you'll get wet at any time of year. Visitors tend to linger for very short times at trail's end before retreating to the cover of the rocks leading up to it.