Ribbon Fall, located in Yosemite National Park in California, flows off a cliff on the west side of El Capitan and is the longest single-drop waterfall in North America. The fall is fed by melting winter snow and the peak amount of water flow is during the months of May to June; while therefore dry for much of the year, the fall is a spectacular 1,612 feet (491 m) in the spring. In exceptional years, an ice cone develops at its base during the winter months similar to that which usually forms beneath Upper Yosemite Fall. This deposit can reach a depth of 200 feet, versus 322 feet for the greatest depth of the ice cone beneath the Upper Fall and Lower Fall.
The Native American name for the waterfall was âÂÂLung-yo to-co-ya,â which translates to âÂÂpigeon basket or nest,â likely referring to the band-tailed pigeons that inhabited the area. James Hutchings, however, translated the name as âÂÂlong and slenderâ and renamed it âÂÂRibbon Fall.â Lafayette Bunnell disagreed with Hutchings' interpretation and instead referred to it as âÂÂPigeon Creek Fall.âÂÂ
The waterfall has also been called âÂÂVirginâÂÂs Tears,â a name reportedly coined by a sentimental woman in the 1860s, inspired by its brief seasonal flow, which she likened to the fleeting tears of a maiden.