Staircase Falls

Staircase Falls is best seen from several areas around Curry Village within Yosemite Valley. Entering Yosemite National Park from any point, proceed to Yosemite Valley and follow Southside Drive to the Curry Village parking lot. The falls can partially be seen from the parking lot, but better views are allowed from Stoneman Meadow, Housekeeping Bridge or Church Bowl. The base of the falls can be accessed by following unofficial trails behind Camp Curry which lead to the foot of the cliff (unfortunately we don't know where these trails start from).Staircase Falls is one of two named ephemeral waterfalls within Yosemite Valley. The falls occur along the very fittingly named Gossamer Creek as it cascades down from Glacier Point. Gossamer Creek's natural course into Yosemite Valley was via a large joint in the bedrock which forms a gully that runs from the Glacier Point parking area clear to the valley floor at about a 45 degree angle. However at about the 5800 foot level, the creek has been diverted northeast from its otherwise northwesterly course - most likely by a rockfall - at which point it intersects the bedrock forming the cliffs above Camp Curry and cascades about 1,300 feet to the valley floor. Perhaps the most eye-catching characteristic of this drop is that due to the jointing in the cliffs, the falls actually shift to the east as they fall. This creates the striking stair-stepping which gives the falls its name, but at the same time the falls are technically continuous because below each step the creek continues sliding downward rather than pausing in a pool. Because Gossamer Creek drains from an extremely small area near Glacier Point, Staircase Falls is a very short lived feature. However, because there is soil in the basin and it faces north, winter snow is slow to melt and the ground is slow to allow the water to run off, so while the falls do run dry by the end of June, they flow fairly consistently (albeit very lightly) during the spring months.