McCloud Lower & Upper Falls

After visiting McCloud Middle Falls, I knew this would be a place I would return to. And, since the Middle Falls were so spectacular, I figured the Lower and Upper Falls must be as well. So, this was the obvious place to bring my daughter on her visit.

We started out at the Lower Falls. They were really easy to find, with signs leading us to the small parking lot where we found a dozen picnic tables in different areas and little grills available for use. The trail was paved and led past the outhouse building to a viewing area and steps that led down to the water. The landscape was so interesting with the side we were on completely covered in rocks while the other was full of shaded greenery. The river actually ran underneath the rocky platform, giving the fish lots of shady places to hide.

After exploring for a bit, we followed the shady path up through the trees to see if we would have another view of the river and, possibly, more falls. We passed by giant, mossy boulders and tons of trees and then saw this beauty standing in the spotlight. She was massive! My daughter is standing next to the tree in the second picture to give a little perspective. Now, she's a shorty, hovering at around 5' 3", but still. This tree was a sight. True to nature, (wait, is that a pun?) I had to linger in awe of the majesty. Of course, I took the opportunity to stand underneath and look up at her branches against the sky. Just glorious!

Ok, so here's how my mind works; if there are three different waterfall areas, each with their own parking lot, they must be pretty far away from each other. With that in mind, I had planned to drive to each lot and hike down the trail to each waterfall. Never did it occur to me that the trails all connected so you could start at one end and reach the other just by walking...until, on our way back to the car, a couple asked me (the obvious local with a little backpack and bear whistle) if we were on the trail that lead from the Lower Falls to the Upper Falls. Ummm...yeah, of course we're on that trail!

Since we had already walked back down the trail, we followed the original plan to drive to the next spot at Middle Falls. We headed out to the two view points and down the switchbacks to the river to take in the magic of the falls. Heading back up the hill, I wondered about staying on the trail the next stop, so I asked my friend Google how far Upper Falls were, and she said I could make the hike. Funny enough, this is where I took a wrong turn the first time (read about our original adventure here). The trail is dusty and narrow with a steep cliff down to the river for most of the way, and totally worth it. The shade and river views and mossy boulders offer so many sights and sounds and lead you to the narrow, rushing river right below the falls.

Most of the area near the Upper Falls is paved with a fence allowing visitors to get close to the water without falling in. If you continue up past the falls, there are areas where you can climb on the rocks and get right next to the water. We stopped at several spots, including one right above the falls, which allowed us to gaze down into the depths of the pool below the falls. There are signs all over warning about the dangers of cliff diving, but we couldn't help wondering what it would be like to swim in the chilly (ok, maybe more like frigid) water on a hot, sunny day. Since it wasn't super hot, and we were getting hungry, we opted to walk back down the hill instead of getting into trouble with the park rangers.

I love out and back trails. Don't get me wrong, loops are nice because the view is always different. But when you turn around and look at things from the opposite direction, there is always something new to see. We saw some trees bent all the way over like a rainbow, the boulders took on a new shape, and we got to see the most spectacular view of the mountains beyond the pines. While a picture is worth a thousand words, it can never come close to capturing what this looks like in real life...which is funny, because I'm sure I said that the view looked like a painting. Regardless, if you are ever near McCloud in northern California, I hope you take the time to visit this magical place and see the beauty for yourself.