The 5 Best Waterfall Hiking Trails in Tulare County, From a 1,200-Foot Glacial Cascade to a Foothill Hidden Gem

This is a dedicated waterfall-specific companion to my Sequoia National Park Giant Forest guide, a deliberately different focus spanning the park’s high country down through its warmer foothill zone. Here’s the short version: Tokopah Falls is the tallest and most visually dramatic waterfall in the entire park, Marble Falls is the reliable lower-elevation option once snow closes the high country, and Paradise Creek Falls is worth visiting for the quiet foothill canyon around it more than the modest falls themselves. Exploring these premier Waterfall Hiking Trails in Tulare County is the best way to see how the Sierra Nevada’s snowmelt transforms the rugged landscape.

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Five waterfalls anchor this guide, spanning a huge elevation range, from Tokopah’s glacial high-country canyon down to foothill creeks near the park’s main entrance.

Key takeaways

• The tallest and most popular: Tokopah Falls, a 1,200-ft multi-tiered cascade through a dramatic glacial canyon, the park’s signature waterfall hike.
• The reliable winter alternative: Marble Falls, a lower-elevation foothill waterfall that stays accessible when snow closes the high country.
• A real waterfall, a corrected location: Ladybug Trail to Cedar Creek, in the South Fork Kaweah corridor near Ash Mountain, not Mineral King as sometimes described.
• Inside the park, despite the name confusion: Panther Creek Falls, a real Sequoia National Park cascade, distinct from better-known Panther Creek Falls in Georgia and Washington.
• The quiet, modest foothill gem: Paradise Creek Falls, a short cascade at the end of a peaceful, shaded canyon walk.
• All five require only the standard park entrance fee, no separate permits for any of these as day hikes.

Tokopah Falls Trail

Trailhead access and parking at Lodgepole Campground (park entrance fee)

The standard Sequoia and Kings Canyon entrance fee applies. The trailhead sits within the large Lodgepole day-use lot, among the biggest parking areas anywhere in the park, so finding a spot is rarely an issue even in peak season.

What you’ll see: a 1,200-foot cascade through a glacial canyon

A mostly flat trail (roughly 3.4 to 4.2 miles round trip, gaining 560 to 630 ft depending on the source) follows the Marble Fork of the Kaweah River through mixed woodland to the base of Tokopah Falls, a 1,200-ft series of cascades down a glacial headwall, officially the tallest waterfall in Sequoia National Park. No dogs or bikes are permitted.

Best time to hike Tokopah Falls: early summer for peak snowmelt flow

Flow peaks dramatically during late spring and early summer snowmelt, then tapers to a comparative trickle by late summer, timing changes how impressive this waterfall looks.

Marble Falls Trail

Trailhead access and parking near Potwisha Campground

A lower-elevation trailhead near Potwisha Campground, in the park’s warmer foothill zone rather than the high country covered by Tokopah Falls.

What you’ll see: a foothill waterfall along the Marble Fork Kaweah River

An 8-mile round trip leads along the Marble Fork of the Kaweah River to the thunderous Marble Falls, a different, lower-elevation chaparral landscape than the high-country trails elsewhere in this guide, with exposed, sun-drenched terrain for much of the way.

Best time to hike Marble Falls: winter and spring, a lower-elevation option when snow closes higher trails

This trail’s low elevation keeps it accessible during winter and spring months when snow closes Tokopah Falls and other high-country trails, a useful off-season option.

Ladybug Trail to Cedar Creek

Trailhead access and parking at South Fork Campground, near Ash Mountain

Reached via South Fork Drive near the Ash Mountain entrance, not Mineral King Road, despite some descriptions conflating the two. The access road is rough in spots, so a higher-clearance vehicle helps.

What you’ll see: a forested trail along the South Fork Kaweah River to Cedar Creek

A roughly 6.4-mile round trip (gaining about 1,610 ft) follows the South Fork of the Kaweah River through forest and creek crossings to Cedar Creek and Ladybug Camp, one of the lowest-elevation sequoia groves anywhere in the park sits near the trail’s end. Day hikers don’t need a wilderness permit; only overnight backpackers continuing to Whiskeylog Camp require one.

Best time to hike Ladybug Trail: summer, though the rough access road matters more than season

Unlike Mineral King’s own seasonal, snow-closed road, this trail’s real access constraint is the rough South Fork Drive itself, passable most of the year, but worth a high-clearance vehicle regardless of season.

Panther Creek Falls Trail

Trailhead access and parking in the Sequoia National Park foothills

Reached via the Middle Fork Trail, generally accessed from the same general Buckeye Flat/Ash Mountain foothill corridor as Paradise Creek Falls, just heading a different direction. The standard park entrance fee applies.

What you’ll see: a foothill-zone cascade below the Giant Forest

A roughly 6-mile round trip (about 750 ft of elevation change) leads through open, sun-exposed chaparral country to a small but cascade where Panther Creek meets the Middle Fork Kaweah River, real Sequoia National Park geography, despite sharing its name with better-known waterfalls in Georgia and Washington State.

Best time to hike Panther Creek Falls: winter and spring for peak flow

Like most of this guide’s foothill entries, rain and snowmelt drive this creek’s flow, cooler, wetter months also make the fully exposed trail considerably more comfortable to hike.

Paradise Creek Falls Trail

Trailhead access and parking near Ash Mountain, Sequoia National Park entrance

Reached via Buckeye Flat Campground, a short distance past the Ash Mountain entrance station, the most drive-up-convenient waterfall trailhead in this guide, though not literally at the entrance gate itself.

What you’ll see: a modest waterfall at the end of a peaceful foothill canyon

A gentle, mostly well-maintained trail (about 2.9 miles one-way, roughly 5.8 miles round trip) follows Paradise Creek through lush riparian vegetation and seasonal wildflowers to a modest 10-ft waterfall, the payoff here is really the quiet canyon itself, and the surprising degree of solitude given how close it sits to a hub of foothill activity.

Best time to hike Paradise Creek Falls: spring for the strongest flow

Spring brings both the best water flow and the peak wildflower display along this trail, summer heat in the foothills can turn this same walk uncomfortable.

The trail I’d actually start with

If you’ve only got one waterfall stop, make it Tokopah Falls, nothing else in this guide matches its scale or drama, and the trail itself is easy enough for nearly anyone.

Marble Falls is the smart backup once snow closes the high country, and Panther Creek and Paradise Creek both reward a quiet foothill morning more than a rushed visit. Treat Ladybug Trail as its own separate outing, not a Mineral King add-on, that’s simply not where it is.

For the Giant Forest sequoia groves rather than waterfalls, my Sequoia National Park trails guide covers that side of the park, and my Tulare County hiking guide rounds out everything else the county offers.

Frequently asked questions