Parking
Park off Forest Road 1N14, then walk the short approach to the Lake Eleanor Dam trailhead. The trailhead is summer-only; lot capacity and fees were not verified.
Overview
About Frog Creek Falls Trail
Why go
- A quiet Lake Eleanor shore walk ends at a named creekside cascade.
Heads up
- The falls spur is less clearly documented than the lakeside approach.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Yosemite map
Full mapElevation4,649–4,970 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Best time to go
Safety
4 active Yosemite alerts
- ClosureDome Fire closes Glacier Point Road and trailsGlacier Point Road is temporarily closed because Dome Fire smoke reduces visibility and to allow firefighting operations; some trails south of the road are also closed.Official details
- CautionMist Trail access limited during October repairsThe Mist Trail between its John Muir Trail junction above the Vernal Fall footbridge and the top of Vernal Fall has limited access through October for repair work.Official details
Yosemite Tour Guide
Yosemite, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Yosemite National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Yosemite audio tourMore stories near here in the app
- Hetch Hetchy and O'Shaughnessy Dam
- A Treefrog on El Capitan
- The Naturalist Who Paid for the Survey
- Poopenaut Valley Trailhead
- 125 audio storiesacross Yosemite’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Black Bear, Peregrine Falcon, Mule Deer, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 141 trails, 99 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“We just drove through Yosemite and it made our trip listening to this app as we drove through. Like having a tour guide in the car with you.”
Trail guide
Hiking Frog Creek Falls Trail
The walkFrog Creek Falls Trail is a 6.
Frog Creek Falls Trail is a 6.5-mile out-and-back from the Lake Eleanor Dam trailhead to a roughly 30-foot cascade on Frog Creek. Allow about 3½ hours. It follows the wooded shore of Lake Eleanor through mixed pine forest and meadow, with lake and granite-bluff views through openings in the trees. The waterfall is a small payoff for a quiet, remote walk, not a giant plunge.
Following the lakeStart at the dam and head east along the shore.
Start at the dam and head east along the shore. The route crosses forest and meadow, with views opening toward the lake as trees thin. Frog Creek is the natural turnaround for the shorter Lake Eleanor walk, about 5.5 miles round-trip. The falls route continues roughly 0.6 mile each way beyond the creek, so choose it only if you're comfortable following the line on your map.
At the fallsFrog Creek Falls is a roughly 30-foot cascade.
Frog Creek Falls is a roughly 30-foot cascade. The mapped route marks it upstream from the inlet where Frog Creek reaches Lake Eleanor; the final spur is less clearly documented than the shore approach, and isn't confirmed as a maintained, signed trail. If the line stops making sense, turn around at Frog Creek rather than wandering up the creek.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Yosemite
732 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
1,747 sightingsMule DeerMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
332 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
11 sightingsPeregrine FalconMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
276 sightingsPikaMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
677 sightingsYellow-bellied MarmotMost seen around 8 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Yosemite. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
