Glen Aulin

Starting from the Lembert Dome trailhead in Tuolumne Meadows, you'll follow the Tuolumne River on a gradual descent through lodgepole pine forest and granite slabs polished smooth by ancient glaciers. The trail rolls along the river's edge, passing a series of increasingly dramatic cascades — Tuolumne Falls, California Falls, LeConte Falls — each one more impressive than the last. The catch? Every foot you lose on the way down, you're paying back on the return. The turnaround at Glen Aulin's High Sierra Camp sits in a granite bowl beside a deep emerald pool, and ambitious hikers can push another four miles to Waterwheel Falls, where the river literally launches itself backward off rock ledges. This is a trail for waterfall collectors who don't mind earning their views with a steady climb home.