Yosemite spring highlights
- Upper Yosemite Fall Trail is especially scenic right now, with strong spring flows creating waterfall rainbows. - Scientists also reported a record year for peregrine falcon fledglings in the park this season. - Travel and park write‑ups recommended spring visits for waterfalls while celebrating the conservation milestone for falcons. ( )
Spring is when Yosemite’s biggest waterfall hits hardest, and the trail beside Upper Yosemite Fall is now at its most dramatic. (nps.gov) The National Park Service says the Yosemite Falls Trail is open year-round, but spring brings peak flow and enough spray to soak hikers on part of the route. The main hike to the top of Upper Yosemite Fall runs 7.4 miles round trip with 2,700 feet of elevation gain from the Yosemite Valley trailhead behind Camp 4. (nps.gov) That mix of sun, mist, and heavy runoff is what produces the rainbow photos that show up around the falls in spring. By August, the Park Service says Yosemite Falls is often running low or dry. (nps.gov) The park’s other spring headline is in the cliffs above the valley, where peregrine falcons posted their best nesting season on record. A Yosemite report highlighted by travel coverage said 23 juvenile peregrines survived incubation and reached the fledgling stage, the highest single-year total since monitoring began in 1973. (thetravel.com) Peregrines nest on the same steep granite walls that draw climbers, so Yosemite closes some cliff areas each year starting March 1 to reduce disturbance until chicks fledge and disperse. The park’s Raptor Protection Program, created in 2009, tracks nests and coordinates those seasonal restrictions. (nps.gov) That protection effort has changed the numbers over time. Yosemite Conservancy said in a July 31, 2024 release that the number of breeding peregrine pairs in the park had doubled since the formal protection program began in 2009. (yosemite.org) The bird’s longer history is even starker. The National Park Service says peregrine populations crashed in the DDT era, the species was later removed from the federal endangered list in 1999, and it still holds special status in California. (nps.gov) So Yosemite’s spring story this year runs on two calendars at once: snowmelt surging through Yosemite Falls and a cliff-nesting raptor recovery measured in chicks. Both are most visible now, before summer heat thins the water and the nesting season ends. (nps.gov)
