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Central Sierra Just Might Host the Best Little Niagara Falls
GV-Wire-1
By gvwire
Published 6 years ago on
May 3, 2019

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When it comes to naming waterfalls, a lot of Americans have been inspired by the grandaddy of them all: towering Niagara Falls straddling the U.S.-Canada border.

Thus, you’ll see Little Niagara Falls in Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Maine, Oregon, Pennslyvania, and Washington.

Even California has one.

And it might be the best.

500-Foot, Two-Tiered Falls

California’s version feeds Donnells Reservoir in a remote gorge of the Stanislaus River Canyon. The reservoir on the Middle Fork of the Stanislaus River is owned by the Oakdale and South San Joaquin irrigation districts.

“In the spring, melting snow feeds Little Niagara Falls, which pours over the southern canyon rim to create a 500-foot, two-tiered freefall, a replica of Yosemite Falls,” wrote Tom Stienstra of the San Francisco Chronicle back in 2001.

The reservoir is about 45 miles east of Sonora near the Dodge Ridge Ski Area, off Highway 108,

To see the falls, click on the drone video above.

You can learn more about Donnells Reservoir at this link.

 

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