Located in Yosemite National Park, in California, is the Ribbon Falls. Yosemite is best known for Old Faithful, or the largest water fall in the US, Yosemite Falls, but the Ribbon Falls is thought to be the largest single drop waterfall in the US. A single-drop water fall falls straight down the cliff, and does not get impeded by the rocky cliff faces or outcroppings.
This waterfall measures at 1612 feet tall, and seems to be a wispy ribbon of water, coming in at only 30 feet wide. Fed by a creek with the same name, Ribbon Creek, which rises and falls with the seasons. Ribbon Falls is born each year from the winter snow melt, and reaches its peak in the early springtime, and disappears when the last of the snow melts. Because the waterfall disappears each year, there are no trails or roads that go to the base of the falls.
The waterfall can only be viewed head on. Plunging from the cliff west of El Capitan. Viewers must stand on a small lookout on the road opposite Bridalveil Falls to view the Ribbon Waterfall, as it has become entrenched in a small alcove in the cliff.
The grayish tan color of the cliffs, carved out by a moving glacier, is dotted with conifer trees, which can be seen even from a distance. The falls seem to be hugging their alcove, although significantly smaller that the carved rock. The conifers also sit on a small cliff face that just out to the right of the niche, and conifers decorate the base of the falls as well, creating a lush forest green carpet!
Because the falls ends 1500 feet above the floor of Yosemite, the water fall appears to be located in the sky, creating a celestial appearance, especially since it only exists for a short time period each year!
