Pywiack Cascade
Pywiack Cascade is a waterfall in California, at a recorded elevation of 2,215 m. Cockscomb stands 3,369 m to the east-northeast, 6.6 miles off. The nearest named place is Clouds Rest, a peak 1.3 miles away. Tioga Road/Big Oak Flat Road passes 1.6 miles off.
The story
The Pywiack Cascade is a waterfall in Yosemite National Park within the U.S. state of California. It is located a few miles downstream from the outlet of Tenaya Lake on Tenaya Creek at the head of the steep and rugged granite gorge, Tenaya Canyon. The waterfall can be viewed from Glacier Point, or by a 6-mile (9.7 km) hike from Olmsted Point, but the canyon is dangerous and the waterfall is unsafe to be reached on foot. The waterfall is highly seasonal. It typically rages in the spring and early summer while shrinking to a trickle by late summer to mid-autumn. The water of the Pywiack Cascade slides down a steep angle of solid granite, for a total of about 600 feet (180 m). A small waterfall lies directly below the main drop. Below that, the creek continues over jumbled talus for less than a quarter of a mile (0.4 km) before it plunges over another large waterfall. Not much farther downstream is Three Chute Falls whose waters continue on into Mirror Lake and then finally empty into the Merced River, within Yosemite Valley. To the right of the Cascade while looking straight at it, there is another, ephemeral waterfall that tumbles down a steep granite cliff. This waterfall is of very little volume but is much taller than Pywiack Cascade. "Py-we-ack" in the native language means "glistening rocks", and the native people applied it to both the creek and Tenaya Lake, due to the abundance of glacial polish in the upper Tenaya basin. The name "Pywiack" has since been applied to Pywiack Dome.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Wikidata Q38330, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What the record says
- Height
- 180 m
- Elevation
- 2215 m
How to reach it
- 1.6 mi off the Tioga Road/Big Oak Flat Road, National
Overlooks nearby
- View on Tenaya Lake · 2 mi
- Lembert Dome · 10 mi
- Disappearing Meadows · 13 mi
- Tioga Lake Overlook Info Site · 16 mi
Named places within 25 miles
- Clouds Rest: 1.3 mi
- Olmsted Point: 1.5 mi
- Mount Watkins: 1.6 mi
- The Pinnacles: 1.8 mi
- East Quarter Dome: 2.1 mi
- Tenaya Creek Waterslide: 1.7 mi
- Snow Creek Falls: 2.9 mi
- Three Chute Falls: 3.0 mi
- Bunnell Cascade: 3.1 mi
- Cascade Fall: 3.5 mi
- Indian Arch: 3.6 mi
- Valley View Parking: 11.0 mi
- Valley View Yosemite (Sunset Spot): 11.0 mi
- Tunnel Tree: 17.4 mi
- Yosemite Valley Railroad Caboose Number 15: 18.0 mi
- Nature Center at Happy Isles: 5.5 mi
- Yosemite Conservation Heritage Center: 5.9 mi
- Ansel Adams residence: 6.0 mi
- Yosemite Exploration Center: 6.0 mi
- Indian Village: 6.0 mi
- Bunnell Cliff: 3.6 mi
- Diving Board: 4.2 mi
- Cascade Cliffs: 4.5 mi
- Castle Cliffs: 5.8 mi
- Panorama Cliff: 6.0 mi
- Women's Club Building: 5.6 mi
- Foster Curry Cabin: 5.7 mi
- World Heritage Site: 6.0 mi
- John Muir: 6.4 mi
- Soda Springs Cabin: 9.2 mi
- Iron Spring: 4.7 mi
- Soda Springs: 9.2 mi
- Black Spring: 10.5 mi
- Moss Spring: 10.6 mi
- Fern Spring: 10.9 mi
- Swinging Bridge Picnic Area: 7.0 mi
- El Capitan Picnic Area: 8.3 mi
- Cathedral Beach Picnic Area: 8.7 mi
- Summit Meadow: 11.9 mi
- Red Bud Picnic Area: 19.9 mi
- El Portal Park: 18.0 mi
- Gull Lake Park: 22.3 mi
- Gus Hess Community Park: 23.4 mi
- Mono Lake Park: 24.6 mi
- Benson Lake Beach: 16.2 mi
- June Lake Beach: 23.0 mi
- Danburg Beach: 24.9 mi
- Yosemite National Park: 4.6 mi
- Bennettville: 16.2 mi
Summits around it
The highest named summits within 6.7 miles of Pywiack Cascade. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cockscomb | ENE 60° | 3,369 m | 6.6 mi |
| Echo Peak #0 | NE 56° | 3,367 m | 5.7 mi |
| Echo Peak #3 | NE 56° | 3,343 m | 5.6 mi |
| Echo Peak #1 | NE 56° | 3,330 m | 5.7 mi |
| Echo Peak #5 | NE 56° | 3,330 m | 5.7 mi |
| Echo Peak #2.5 | NE 56° | 3,328 m | 5.6 mi |
| Echo Peak #2 | NE 56° | 3,318 m | 5.7 mi |
| Echo Peak #8 | ENE 56° | 3,318 m | 5.8 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 07:02 | 18:36 | 19:10 |
| June solstice | 05:37 | 19:45 | 20:24 |
| September equinox | 06:47 | 18:22 | 18:56 |
| December solstice | 07:11 | 16:02 | 16:43 |
Local time (America/Los_Angeles).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: Apr–Oct.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 38 | 41 | 45 | 50 | 58 | 66 | 73 | 73 | 67 | 56 | 44 | 37 |
| Precip in | 7.0 | 6.5 | 5.5 | 3.2 | 1.9 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 4.0 | 5.6 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Yosemite Park HQ, 6 mi away.
Months at or above the year’s average flow: Apr–Jul — fullest in May, leanest in Oct.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean cfs | 95.9 | 116 | 210 | 574 | 1,274 | 1,203 | 468 | 108 | 40.7 | 38.9 | 61.1 | 81.7 |
USGS monthly mean discharge at gauge Merced R A Happy Isles Bridge NR Yosemite CA, 6 mi away — the nearest gauge, which can sit on a different stream.
Inside the official boundary of Yosemite National Park. Quietest months by visitation: Jan and Feb; busiest: Aug.
NPS visitation statistics, monthly averages 2021–2025 (2020 excluded).
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikidataOpenStreetMap element node/2389658011
Day trips start here
- Yosemite National Park · 5 mi
- Sierra Nevada · 6 mi
Take the scenic way to Pywiack Cascade.
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