Pyramid Creek Cascades

The Pyramid Creek Trailhead is found in the small cabin community of Twin Bridges along Highway 50, about halfway between Placerville, CA and South Lake Tahoe, NV (about 3.8 miles west of the Sierra at Tahoe Ski Area). From the trailhead follow the well marked trail for about a quarter mile and begin watching for cairns marking a spur trail to the right which climbs up slabs along Pyramid Creek (if in doubt about the location of the actual trail, just walk to the right, towards the creek, then follow it upstream). The top of the falls is found about 4/10ths of a mile from the trailhead.Pyramid Creek creates one of the most impressive waterfalls in California at Horsetail Falls, but hikers en route to the base of that waterfall can encounter another worthy waterfall in this set of cascades about a quarter mile upstream from where Pyramid Creek crosses under Highway 50 near Twin Bridges. The creek slides about 75 vertical feet down two long, gradually sloped cascades sheeting over solid granite. The upper tier stretches to as much as 55 feet wide and drops 39 feet, slamming into a low wall at its base. The lower tier is found in a more thickly forested channel and because the creek splits into two channels here, the main part of the lower tier cannot be seen from the trail (we were not able to properly measure or photograph that part of the falls as a result).