diff --git a/mkdocs/docs/configuration.md b/mkdocs/docs/configuration.md
index 1e364a11fe..dc51f81434 100644
--- a/mkdocs/docs/configuration.md
+++ b/mkdocs/docs/configuration.md
@@ -332,6 +332,7 @@ catalog:
 | rest.signing-region | us-east-1                        | The region to use when SigV4 signing a request                                                     |
 | rest.signing-name   | execute-api                      | The service signing name to use when SigV4 signing a request                                       |
 | oauth2-server-uri   | <https://auth-service/cc>          | Authentication URL to use for client credentials authentication (default: uri + 'v1/oauth/tokens') |
+| snapshot-loading-mode | refs                             | The snapshots to return in the body of the metadata. Setting the value to `all` would return the full set of snapshots currently valid for the table. Setting the value to `refs` would load all snapshots referenced by branches or tags. |
 
 <!-- markdown-link-check-enable-->
 
diff --git a/poetry.lock b/poetry.lock
index 849485ffbb..619567ad67 100644
--- a/poetry.lock
+++ b/poetry.lock
@@ -2660,14 +2660,14 @@ python-legacy = ["mkdocstrings-python-legacy (>=0.2.1)"]
 
 [[package]]
 name = "mkdocstrings-python"
-version = "1.16.10"
+version = "1.16.11"
 description = "A Python handler for mkdocstrings."
 optional = false
 python-versions = ">=3.9"
 groups = ["docs"]
 files = [
-    {file = "mkdocstrings_python-1.16.10-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:63bb9f01f8848a644bdb6289e86dc38ceddeaa63ecc2e291e3b2ca52702a6643"},
-    {file = "mkdocstrings_python-1.16.10.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:f9eedfd98effb612ab4d0ed6dd2b73aff6eba5215e0a65cea6d877717f75502e"},
+    {file = "mkdocstrings_python-1.16.11-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:25d96cc9c1f9c272ea1bd8222c900b5f852bf46c984003e9c7c56eaa4696190f"},
+    {file = "mkdocstrings_python-1.16.11.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:935f95efa887f99178e4a7becaaa1286fb35adafffd669b04fd611d97c00e5ce"},
 ]
 
 [package.dependencies]
@@ -5992,4 +5992,4 @@ zstandard = ["zstandard"]
 [metadata]
 lock-version = "2.1"
 python-versions = "^3.9.2, !=3.9.7"
-content-hash = "f3d2267ce4f380399dc767a6483a1f198127856883e394d8befbd8a871bbeab9"
+content-hash = "5d5b5c2a8039d92c4d52b913785f77a30e8e0a746ab9da149d71a91d479f2c97"
diff --git a/pyiceberg/catalog/rest/__init__.py b/pyiceberg/catalog/rest/__init__.py
index 18d875ea65..633ef6498b 100644
--- a/pyiceberg/catalog/rest/__init__.py
+++ b/pyiceberg/catalog/rest/__init__.py
@@ -138,6 +138,7 @@ class IdentifierKind(Enum):
 SIGV4_REGION = "rest.signing-region"
 SIGV4_SERVICE = "rest.signing-name"
 OAUTH2_SERVER_URI = "oauth2-server-uri"
+SNAPSHOT_LOADING_MODE = "snapshot-loading-mode"
 
 NAMESPACE_SEPARATOR = b"\x1f".decode(UTF8)
 
@@ -678,7 +679,16 @@ def list_tables(self, namespace: Union[str, Identifier]) -> List[Identifier]:
 
     @retry(**_RETRY_ARGS)
     def load_table(self, identifier: Union[str, Identifier]) -> Table:
-        response = self._session.get(self.url(Endpoints.load_table, prefixed=True, **self._split_identifier_for_path(identifier)))
+        params = {}
+        if mode := self.properties.get(SNAPSHOT_LOADING_MODE):
+            if mode in {"all", "refs"}:
+                params["snapshots"] = mode
+            else:
+                raise ValueError("Invalid snapshot-loading-mode: {}")
+
+        response = self._session.get(
+            self.url(Endpoints.load_table, prefixed=True, **self._split_identifier_for_path(identifier)), params=params
+        )
         try:
             response.raise_for_status()
         except HTTPError as exc:
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 3116214f71..89f132354c 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ mkdocs = "1.6.1"
 griffe = "1.7.3"
 jinja2 = "3.1.6"
 mkdocstrings = "0.29.1"
-mkdocstrings-python = "1.16.10"
+mkdocstrings-python = "1.16.11"
 mkdocs-literate-nav = "0.6.2"
 mkdocs-autorefs = "1.4.1"
 mkdocs-gen-files = "0.5.0"
diff --git a/tests/catalog/test_rest.py b/tests/catalog/test_rest.py
index b9c88d2fc4..dfc6a0e2fb 100644
--- a/tests/catalog/test_rest.py
+++ b/tests/catalog/test_rest.py
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
 
 import pyiceberg
 from pyiceberg.catalog import PropertiesUpdateSummary, load_catalog
-from pyiceberg.catalog.rest import OAUTH2_SERVER_URI, RestCatalog
+from pyiceberg.catalog.rest import OAUTH2_SERVER_URI, SNAPSHOT_LOADING_MODE, RestCatalog
 from pyiceberg.exceptions import (
     AuthorizationExpiredError,
     NamespaceAlreadyExistsError,
@@ -853,6 +853,29 @@ def test_load_table_200(rest_mock: Mocker, example_table_metadata_with_snapshot_
     assert actual == expected
 
 
+def test_load_table_200_loading_mode(
+    rest_mock: Mocker, example_table_metadata_with_snapshot_v1_rest_json: Dict[str, Any]
+) -> None:
+    rest_mock.get(
+        f"{TEST_URI}v1/namespaces/fokko/tables/table?snapshots=refs",
+        json=example_table_metadata_with_snapshot_v1_rest_json,
+        status_code=200,
+        request_headers=TEST_HEADERS,
+    )
+    catalog = RestCatalog("rest", uri=TEST_URI, token=TEST_TOKEN, **{SNAPSHOT_LOADING_MODE: "refs"})
+    actual = catalog.load_table(("fokko", "table"))
+    expected = Table(
+        identifier=("fokko", "table"),
+        metadata_location=example_table_metadata_with_snapshot_v1_rest_json["metadata-location"],
+        metadata=TableMetadataV1(**example_table_metadata_with_snapshot_v1_rest_json["metadata"]),
+        io=load_file_io(),
+        catalog=catalog,
+    )
+    # First compare the dicts
+    assert actual.metadata.model_dump() == expected.metadata.model_dump()
+    assert actual == expected
+
+
 def test_load_table_honor_access_delegation(
     rest_mock: Mocker, example_table_metadata_with_snapshot_v1_rest_json: Dict[str, Any]
 ) -> None: