Rancheria Falls

"Great trail for everyone of all ages, a little over a mile but super mild with plenty of parking either at street or closer to waterfall, if you do drive up to parking area near waterfall it is preferable to do in a vehicle with plenty of clearance, either way it’s all worth it for views"

Armando Lios

"Roughly 13.5 miles out and back from O'Shaughnessy Dam, my group and I backpacked to the Falls on 04/23/2022-04/24/2022.

There was a lot of people on the trail up to Wapama Falls, after which the crowd factor tapered off drastically saved for the very fit or for backpackers (or very fit backpackers?).

After Wapama the trail weaves through open terrain and dense oak canopies. There is a hilarious amount of poison oak on either side of the trail after Wapama Falls so watch yourself. Be especially careful if you need to use the restroom, as the trail can be very narrow and steep and festooned with poison oak on either side.

Water is currently very plentiful with many areas flooded out. There are a number of small stream crossings that can be easily traversed via vaulting or using the rocks that previous hikers have used (some rocks may be loose).

The trail, while moderate, is fairly exposed in some sections as well as narrow.

Mosquitos weren't an issue, though I did notice some very large specimens eyeing my plump skin.

Rancheria Falls itself is absolutely gorgeous and flowing very nicely.

The best view is about a quarter mile before the top of the fall, where you can see the entire thing cascade down into several slick sections before eventually dispersion over rocks and boulders. Coincidentally, this area also had fantastic camp sites that were flat. There are about 3 existing fire rings. Please do NOT create a new fire ring or harvest wood from live trees.

Overall, we had a wonderful time here. There was no trash to be found in trail, the area is pristine. Let's keep it that way, please pack out what you pack in."

James Le

"Great fall backpacking trip! My son and I did an overnight trip here in November. The Yosemite entrance is not staffed at this time of year so you don’t need to pay. There are self service overnight wilderness permits you fill out at the park entrance which are free. Bear canisters are required for your food and scented items.

Parking is in the backpacker overnight section. There’s a decent restroom where you park. To hike to the dam walk downhill about 1/2 mile. From the dam at about 4,000’ elevation to Wapama Falls is about another 2.5 miles, however, they were dry this time of year. Hike another 4 miles to the Rancheria Falls backpack camp. The total one way distance from where the car was parked near the backpack camp to our campsite below Rancheria Falls was about 7 miles with +1200’ elevation gain and -700’ elevation loss. It took us about 4 hours with a stop for lunch. There are no restroom facilities at this camp so bury any human waste and pack out any toilet paper. The camp is under pine trees with lots of needles blanketing the forest floor which makes for a nice spot to sleep. The stream runs nearby to get water for filtering which was still flowing nicely even though Wapama Falls was dry.

Walk another 1/2 mile up the trail and you get to Rancheria Falls.

Daytime temps were in the low 70’s. We went through 1 liter / 32 oz. of water each. I’d recommend another 1/2 liter for warm daytime temperatures when the other falls are dry. Earlier in the season water is abundant so 1 liter should be fine."

Derek Hudson