Carlon Falls
Hike Review
Cassie and I hiked the Carlon Falls trail so that we could take a quick jump into the South Fork Tuolumne River.
There were not many people on the trail or at the waterfall. This is probably due to our timing, as I would imagine this trail being popular due to how short it is. There is one part of the hike that some people seemed to find tricky (there’s a steep part of the trail near the waterfall), but it wasn’t too bad at all, IMHO.
We hiked near sunset in perfect weather. It wasn’t too hot, but we did get a bit warm by the time we got near the waterfall. We then took a quick dip in the water to cool down, where we were surprised to feel that the water wasn’t too cold at all. Oh, and the trail was entirely shaded as it weaves between trees the whole time. It was such a lovely trail.
We started at the south parking lot of Carlon Day Use Area. It costs $10 to park, and there was a restroom that was decently clean. Although CalTopo and GaiaGPS showed a trail that went along the western side of the river, the trail was washed out, and we were forced to cross the river to the main Carlon Falls Trail. Thankfully, there were plenty of downed trees we could use to walk across the river. There is some roadside parking; it is limited to only a few spots.
I was surprised when we ran into zero mosquitoes. Still, I got bit in two places by ants as I was scrambling around the waterfall.
What I Learned
Again, I was surprised by the lack of mosquitoes given the warm weather. Maybe it is because it’s still May, and the mosquitoes have yet to hatch?
May is usually when the water is freezing cold as most of the creeks and rivers I encounter are a result of snowmelt. The water being pretty warm must mean that the South Fork Tuolumne River is either not from snowmelt or that it picks up a lot of solar energy on the way down to Carlon Falls. Either way, the warmth of the water meant that both Cassie and I jumped in multiple times!
What Happened?
3.4 miles, 2 hrs 14 mins, 780 ft of ascent
On a three-day weekend, Cassie and I drove up to Yosemite during the middle of a Saturday. It meant that we got to the Yosemite Big Oak Flat Entrance around 3 p.m. We were worried that there would be a giant line at Yosemite given that it was a three-day weekend and that there was no entrance reservation requirement in 2026, but the line took less than 20 minutes to go through. We then stopped by the ranger station to pick up our backpack permit; this took quite a bit of time as there were 5 or 6 backpacking groups ahead of us and each group took 10-15 minutes to process. Anyways, we were able to pick up the permit before 5 p.m. and we promptly headed out to Yosemite to get to the Carlon Falls Trailhead.
We started our hike on the west side of the river, but within a hundred yards or so from the parking lot, we saw that the trail was hard to follow. On second look, we saw that the trail had probably fallen into the river. We then bushwhacked to the closest log that spanned the river and used it to cross it. When we got on the east side of the river, we found the trail well maintained and generous in width. The rest of the hike was nice and easy; we just found it to be wonderful to be among our tree brothers and sisters, with the soundtrack of soft whispers from the river as well as pretty bird chirps.
When we got to the waterfall, we stripped down to our swimming clothes and got into the water. While it was cold, it wasn’t very cold and when we got out, we immediately jumped in again. After putting our shirts back on, we hiked a bit down the river so that Cassie could find a nice viewpoint to paint. When she settled down, I scrambled on the rocks and found a more fun way to get to the waterfall.
We then packed up and headed back to the parking lot. The hike down was drama-free and the walk back was quick. We did find a different log to cross to the west side of the river slightly down the river from the parking lot. Afterwards, we made our way to Lucky Buck Cafe, where we had a great dinner. And after that, we found a place to sleep near Hardin Flat Road.
