The Hetch Hetchy reservoir is beautiful, the dam is amazing to check out and the waterfalls are stunning.
Have you heard of Hetch Hetchy Valley?
First, some history….
Most people probably haven’t. I hadn’t until I first started researching for a trip to Yosemite last year. If you have seen Yosemite Valley, you can start to imagine what the valley looked like before the dam was built. Hetch Hetchy valley was originally a mini version of Yosemite Valley.
In the 1800’s people were flocking to the west and soon growing populations in San Francisco demanded more water and this valley was tapped to be the source of that water. The beautiful Tuolumne River flowed through the valley and campaigns were launched to dam the valley for its water and to protect the valley from a dam.
The dam won and the O’Shaughnessy Dam was completed in 1923. Today the reservoir holds 117 billion gallons of clean drinking water for 2.7 million Bay area residents. There are also 2 hydroelectric dams downstream from the O’Shaughnessy dam. The Hetch Hetchy reservoir is 8 miles long and the largest body of water in Yosemite National Park. Several waterfalls flow into the reservoir and you can hike at least 3 of them in one day.
The waterfalls were the reason we came to Hetch Hetchy, but we saw a lot more once we got here.
How we came to be in Hetch Hetchy
We took family trip to Yosemite during the summer of 2022. We rented a huge house for all 20 of us (we have 7 kids, 4 kid in laws and 6 grands so far). It was an amazing time, but it was all ages exploring, not the hard-core stuff we usually do on our own. A blast was had by the whole group, but my hubby and I knew we needed to come back on our own. Yosemite is amazing.
One of the couples went off on their own one day to do the Wapama Falls Trail. They loved it and came back telling us all about Hetch Hetchy. On our drive back to the east coast we read up about the story of Hetch Hetchy and wanted to see it for ourselves. We watched a documentary called DamNation and were so fascinated about the history of dams in our country. It’s quite interesting and I highly recommend it.
Right after getting home in 2022, I started planning our 2023 adventure and we spent almost a week in Yosemite. I set aside a day for exploring Hetch Hetchy. Check out our whole trip to Yosemite in a recent blog post.
Heading to Hetch Hetchy
If you are going to Hetch Hetchy from the main area of Yosemite you actually leave the park and then reenter the Hetch Hetchy district and need to show your National Park pass or permit again. We arrived about 8:00 a.m. and were one of only 3 cars in the parking lot. It was full when we returned. It’s about an hour and 25 minutes from the Valley to the Reservoir. The drive is really remote and pretty!
As I mentioned before Hetch Hetchy is part of Yosemite National Park and you need a National Park Pass to enter or you will pay the park fee. The private vehicle fee for Yosemite is $35. If you are going to be going to several National Parks in Monuments in a year you should consider a National Park Pass.
Exploring Hetch Hetchy for the day
We got to the parking area right near the dam nice and early to get started on our exploring. The hiking we were doing was very exposed for the majority of the hike and we wanted to get ahead of the July sun. It had been around 100 each day the week we were in Yosemite. Please be sure to bring plenty of water. It will be hot because of the sun exposure.
There are several great hikes in this part of Yosemite, but we did the Wapama Falls Trail. Here is the AllTrails link to this hike.
The dam itself is amazing to check out. To get to the Wapama Falls trail you walk across the dam so you can stop and enjoy the views which are amazing and read the historic info signs along the way. There is some history to this place so it’s neat to read all about it.
Once across the Hetch Hetchy dam you will walk about a football field length through a tunnel to get to the start of your trail. There is some minimal lighting in the tunnel. This trail leads to 3 different waterfalls but we only went to the first two because we had a huge day of hiking the next day to the top of Upper Yosemite Falls and didn’t want to do 13 miles the day before.
We hiked the Wapama Falls trail at Hetch Hetchy which was 5 miles round trip with about 600 feet of elevation change. This trail starts on top of the dam, through a cool tunnel and along the shore of the reservoir. Most of the elevation is at the beginning.
Along the way on this trail, you will pass Tueeulala Falls which were so tall and impressive. Water from these falls was coming down and over the path while we were there because there had been so much snow last winter. The snowmelt was crazy. We got our feet wet just on the path. You can see both the falls and the water flow on the path in the videos below.
Well before 2.5 miles in you both hear and feel Wapama Falls. The mist is IMPRESSIVE as is the noise of the water. When you round the final corner, you start to feel the drench and see the bridges that you will be hiking across.
Walking back and forth on the bridge was a blast and well appreciated after a hike that was about half exposed to the sun and the close to 100-degree temps today. The water flowed so much that we were literally soaked just walking across. We walked back and forth on the bridges taking pics and just enjoying getting cooled off in the spray.
This year’s huge snow melt had kept the falls huge even well into July and we enjoyed the reward. Be careful on the bridges and rock trail as all can be slippery. There is a gate on the bridge that the park closes when the water is dangerously heavy and if that happens you can just enjoy the views from one side.
Today the sun shined just perfectly for me to capture SO many rainbows. It was fantastic.
This section of Yosemite is not busy at all, and we got the trail to ourselves until the trip back when there were quite a few people just hitting the trail. You definitely don’t want to miss this hike. LOTS of bang for the buck. It definitely rivals the Vernal Falls trail for a great waterfall hike.
There are several other trails in the Hetch Hetchy area, so do a little research on AllTrails. Part of the Pacific Crest Trail comes through near here and there are several backpacking trails. There is a long-term parking area for those who have wilderness permits. This area is well worth visiting and you will be glad you came.
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Keep exploring,
Stephanie
seymoreoftheworldwithme