Yosemite Firefall: Horsetail Fall Facts and NPS Rules

What the Yosemite firefall is

The name firefall is used today for a natural light effect on Horsetail Fall, a small seasonal waterfall in Yosemite Valley. The National Park Service (NPS) lists Horsetail Fall as about 1,000 feet tall, dropping off the east side of El Capitan. When the setting sun hits the falling water at the right angle in February, the stream can glow orange and red for a few minutes, so it looks like a ribbon of fire on the dark granite.

The effect is not guaranteed on any given evening. NPS states that it happens only on clear evenings near sunset in mid to late February. The waterfall has to be flowing, and the park notes that Horsetail Fall usually flows only from about December through April, fed by snowmelt and rain. A clear sky to the west is also needed. According to NPS, haze or even minor cloudiness can greatly reduce the glow or remove it entirely.

Reservation status for 2026

For February 2026, the NPS Horsetail Fall page states that a reservation is not required to visit Yosemite or the Horsetail Fall area. That is a change from recent years. In 2025, the park required a reservation to drive into Yosemite at any hour on February 8 and 9, February 15 to 17, and February 22 and 23, while visitors arriving on other weekdays paid the entrance fee without a reservation. The standard park entrance fee still applies in 2026, and the traffic and parking restrictions described below remain in place during the viewing period.

Where viewing is allowed

NPS sets one main viewing area: the El Capitan Picnic Area on Northside Drive, which has vault toilets and dumpsters during the event. Visitor parking is at Yosemite Falls parking, just west of Yosemite Valley Lodge. When that lot fills, the park directs visitors to Yosemite Village or Curry Village and the free valley shuttle. From Yosemite Falls parking to the viewing area is 1.5 miles each way on foot, and one lane of Northside Drive is closed to vehicles so that pedestrians can walk the road.

The key rules, as listed by NPS, are these:

• No parking, stopping or unloading passengers on Northside Drive between Lower Yosemite Fall and El Capitan Crossover.
• Southside Drive stays open to vehicles, but parking, stopping and unloading are not allowed between El Capitan Crossover and Swinging Bridge Picnic Area, and pedestrians may not walk on or beside the road there.
• The area between the road and the Merced River, including the river, is closed from Cathedral Beach Picnic Area to Sentinel Beach Picnic Area.
• Vehicles with a disability placard may drive to El Capitan Picnic Area and park in turnouts on the north side of the road.
• On busy weekends, Northside Drive may close completely for about half an hour right after sunset.

NPS also states that snowy and icy conditions are common on the roads and paths in February.

Why the park manages the crowds

For most of the park's history the Horsetail Fall glow was little known. Visitation rose sharply once photos spread. NPS records that on February 19, 2022, 2,433 visitors gathered in areas that mostly lacked parking and restrooms. Crowds spread onto the riverbanks, causing erosion, trampled plants, trash and unsanitary conditions. In February 2017, a section of riverbank collapsed under visitor pressure. The road, parking and river-corridor rules came out of those years.

The original Firefall at Glacier Point

The word firefall comes from an older, human-made show. NPS describes it as a large campfire built many nights in front of the Glacier Point Hotel, with its glowing embers pushed over the edge of the cliff after dark. Seen from Yosemite Valley far below, the falling embers looked like a waterfall of fire. Historical accounts credit James McCauley, owner of the hotel at Glacier Point, with starting it in 1872. According to NPS, David Curry, a showman who ran Camp Curry in the valley, made the Firefall one of the camp's regular evening attractions.

The Park Service ended the tradition. NPS states that the last Firefall took place in January 1968, citing the traffic congestion it caused in Yosemite Valley and the fact that it was an unnatural attraction. An NPS history page adds that NPS Director George Hartzog ordered the end of the show. The Glacier Point Hotel itself was destroyed by an electrical fire on July 10, 1969, according to NPS.

The natural glow on Horsetail Fall took over the name. NPS describes it as entirely natural yet reminiscent of the human-made Firefall that once fell from Glacier Point.

Other Yosemite waterfalls for scale

Horsetail Fall is much smaller than its neighbors and, according to NPS, flows only about December through April. The February glow depends on the fall carrying water at that time, together with a clear western sky at sunset.