Waterwheel Falls

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Waterwheel Falls
Waterwheel Falls
Location	Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne, Yosemite National Park, California, U.S.
Coordinates	37°55′38″N 119°27′32″W / 37.92722°N 119.45889°W / 37.92722; -119.45889
Type	Slide

Waterwheel Falls is a waterfall in the Sierra Nevada of California, located in Yosemite National Park. It is the largest of the many waterfalls of the Tuolumne River. Its upper part contains a series of small ledges, each of which creates a small plume as the water is deflected away from the rock face. A regular phenomenon appears at the first and largest of these ledges during the high-water season of early summer. Strong gusts of wind can lift part of the spray and blow it back upward, causing it to reenter the falls above the ledge.^[1] This cyclic "waterwheel" gives the falls their name.