donny h
01-11-2006, 02:33 PM
Calf Creek is in the Escalante, the lower falls trail heads out of a little BLM campground, located off hwy12, the campground is about 15 miles south of the town of Boulder.
Check the road closures, coming from the north, hwy12 over Boulder Mountain sometimes isn't cleared of snow until late spring or early summer.
The southern access is through the town of Escalante, if you come this way, stop at Kiva coffee house, it's just a couple miles from the campground, and has the best Utah location for a coffee house I've seen yet.
Calf Creek campground is small, but sweet. The lower falls trailhead is in the campground, it is an easy trail, under 6 miles round trip, and well worth it. The lower falls is a 130' drop, with a beautiful pool at the bottom, and may be the crown jewel of the Escalante. There are many online reviews of this trail, so I will focus on what those reviews don't tell you:
It gets very crowded. I have seen half a dozen schools buses at a time off loading school kids on field trips, along with senior and tourist tour buses.
Mid-week visits don't work to beat the crowds here, so hit the trail EARLY.
That works out well, because the canyon is in afternoon shadows. If you want pics or to take a swim under the falls, early in the day is much better, anyways.
Staying in the campground is very nice in itself, the creek is crystal clear, and with a sandy bottom, it's a great one for a 'splashabout'.
Best spots: head for the back, cross the creek and camp in the back half of the campground, these spots are more mellow because of the intense foot/vehicle traffic in the front half.
Remember, this spot is insanely popular, crowded during the day, but all those folks will go away at night, I believe the place has 14-15 sites, so it's small and quite at night.
When you tire of the crowds, head for Upper Calf Creek Falls: No road markers, but the trailhead is just north of mile marker 81, along the west side of hwy12, it's a dirt track a few hundred feet long that leads to a nice parking area. It's just a few miles north of the campground.
This section of hwy12 is one of the most awesome roads in America, I promise, seriously... it is pretty gnarly, you may miss the trailhead the first time, no worries, just don't go over the edge looking for it.
The falls are about 1 mile below you from the trailhead, the trail was fairly well marked the last time I was there, but washed out in some
spots. The trip before, the trail was poor.
As you drop in, pay attention to where the top of the trail starts above you, I lost the trail on the way up several times, but there are good landmarks right where you drop in.
I've seen this trail rated as difficult, I'm not sure why, maybe that is because of route finding, I guess it is a little steep from a hiking point of view, but I would still call it easy.
The falls are not as impressive as the lower falls, but still very nice, you can go to the top, there is some great sun bathing on a big, slickrock beach right at the top of the falls.
Other trails split and head for the bottom of the falls, there is a large pool, which is another swim spot, and there is a big, shady hollow next to the pool, it's a nice lunch spot, and a bird watching Mecca.
I hear you can follow the creek down to the lower falls, and give yourself a chance to fall 130' off of it, but when I tried to go down creek from the upper falls my Tevas were not enough footwear, too much ooze. Maybe with boots, or high top sneaks.
Go, go to the Escalante, go to Calf Creek, go to the Kiva coffee house, (not just coffee, food and snacks also) go to Boulder, go to Hells Backbone Grill in Boulder, and since the grill is right at the beginning of the Burr Trail, now paved through Long Canyon, go up the Burr Trail, too.
You won't regret it.
Check the road closures, coming from the north, hwy12 over Boulder Mountain sometimes isn't cleared of snow until late spring or early summer.
The southern access is through the town of Escalante, if you come this way, stop at Kiva coffee house, it's just a couple miles from the campground, and has the best Utah location for a coffee house I've seen yet.
Calf Creek campground is small, but sweet. The lower falls trailhead is in the campground, it is an easy trail, under 6 miles round trip, and well worth it. The lower falls is a 130' drop, with a beautiful pool at the bottom, and may be the crown jewel of the Escalante. There are many online reviews of this trail, so I will focus on what those reviews don't tell you:
It gets very crowded. I have seen half a dozen schools buses at a time off loading school kids on field trips, along with senior and tourist tour buses.
Mid-week visits don't work to beat the crowds here, so hit the trail EARLY.
That works out well, because the canyon is in afternoon shadows. If you want pics or to take a swim under the falls, early in the day is much better, anyways.
Staying in the campground is very nice in itself, the creek is crystal clear, and with a sandy bottom, it's a great one for a 'splashabout'.
Best spots: head for the back, cross the creek and camp in the back half of the campground, these spots are more mellow because of the intense foot/vehicle traffic in the front half.
Remember, this spot is insanely popular, crowded during the day, but all those folks will go away at night, I believe the place has 14-15 sites, so it's small and quite at night.
When you tire of the crowds, head for Upper Calf Creek Falls: No road markers, but the trailhead is just north of mile marker 81, along the west side of hwy12, it's a dirt track a few hundred feet long that leads to a nice parking area. It's just a few miles north of the campground.
This section of hwy12 is one of the most awesome roads in America, I promise, seriously... it is pretty gnarly, you may miss the trailhead the first time, no worries, just don't go over the edge looking for it.
The falls are about 1 mile below you from the trailhead, the trail was fairly well marked the last time I was there, but washed out in some
spots. The trip before, the trail was poor.
As you drop in, pay attention to where the top of the trail starts above you, I lost the trail on the way up several times, but there are good landmarks right where you drop in.
I've seen this trail rated as difficult, I'm not sure why, maybe that is because of route finding, I guess it is a little steep from a hiking point of view, but I would still call it easy.
The falls are not as impressive as the lower falls, but still very nice, you can go to the top, there is some great sun bathing on a big, slickrock beach right at the top of the falls.
Other trails split and head for the bottom of the falls, there is a large pool, which is another swim spot, and there is a big, shady hollow next to the pool, it's a nice lunch spot, and a bird watching Mecca.
I hear you can follow the creek down to the lower falls, and give yourself a chance to fall 130' off of it, but when I tried to go down creek from the upper falls my Tevas were not enough footwear, too much ooze. Maybe with boots, or high top sneaks.
Go, go to the Escalante, go to Calf Creek, go to the Kiva coffee house, (not just coffee, food and snacks also) go to Boulder, go to Hells Backbone Grill in Boulder, and since the grill is right at the beginning of the Burr Trail, now paved through Long Canyon, go up the Burr Trail, too.
You won't regret it.