Waterfalls can be pretty cool and all, but have you ever seen a firefall? If you hurry to Yosemite National Park in the next few days you might get the rare opportunity to see this crazy visual phenomenon.
Once a year, if conditions are just right, the Horesetail Fall waterfall appears to be a flow of bright orange lava instead of regular old water due to a very specific angle of the setting February sun. The phenomenon is so special that people are known to travel from around the world to catch a glimpse.
If you need an extra nudge to make some getaway plans for the upcoming long weekend, it’s worth nothing that this year’s firefall is set to be extra spectacular.
“The waterfall is bigger than it has been in a long time due to all the rain and snow we have received,” National Park Service spokesman Scott Gediman told CNN.
The firefall has become a must-get photo for ambitious West Coast Instagrammers, sort of like a mountain-sized version of New York’s feed-filling ‘Manhattenhenge’ moments, and Yosemite officials have seen photographers setting up at 9am to be in the perfect position when the sun sets hours later.
If you want to get your own perfect firefall photo, the park suggests that the best views can usually be captured from the El Capitan picnic area—if it doesn’t rain, that is. Just be sure to pack some chains for your road trip because conditions are likely still to be quite snowy in the Yosemite area.
Want more? Sign up here to stay in the know.