Lower Calf Creek Falls
Grand Staircase/Escalante
National Monument

Utah

Lower Calf Creek Falls Hike
By Steve Schmorleitz

Lower Calf Creek Falls is one of those surreal places on this earth.  Once you arrive at the pool at the base of the falls you will feel like you have been transported into a dreamland oasis.

The 126 foot Lower Calf Creek Falls can be reached by a 6 mile round trip hike over fairly level terrain.  The hike generally takes 3-4 hours on a developed sandy trail.  Make sure to bring your camera. 

The BLM, whom administer the site, charge a small usage fee ($2.00 during summer of 2001) to access the area.  Make sure to sign in at the trailhead.  Grab a copy of the trail guide brochure where you sign in.  This guide is more interesting than most.  Numbered stakes along the way correspond with the numbers in the guide.  The guide will help you to spot some interesting attraction along the route.  I will mention some of those attractions throughout this article.

Calf Creek flows year round.  The lush plant and wildlife makes this abundantly clear.  Beaver dams and ponds can be readily seen from the trail.  While I was there I saw two dark figures of what I thought were two people standing on the ridge near the hogs back area.  Suddenly the figures jumped off the edge of the cliff above and soared through the air.  They were a pair of the endangered giant California Condor birds.  These birds wingspans can be as wide as nine feet! 

Not only is plant and wildlife abundant in this desert oasis, but evidence of human existence in Calf Creek Canyon is available as well.  As you hike you will have the opportunity to see the ancient rock art of the Fremont people.  They flourished in the area from about 1100 –1400 AD.  High in the nooks and crannies of the cliffs above there are also a number of granary ruins where these ancient ones stored their food out of reach of those animals and people who might want to take it.

You will hear the water thundering down the 126 foot falls before you can see them.  The falls are located at the end of a winding narrow desert canyon.  As you hike the red, yellow and white walls of the canyon tower above providing a constant change of enchanting scenery.

The large pool at the base of Lower Calf Creek Falls is a great place to refresh your body and soul after the 3-mile desert hike.  The pool has a brisk coolness to it.  Be ready for it and you will enjoy the plunge.

When you return to your car take the short trip of the Hogs Back.  It is a short section of highway 12 just to the east of the Calf Creek turnoff.  The Hogs Back is a section of road that follows the top of a narrow slick rock ridge.  Along the shoulder of each side of the road cliffs drop precariously into deep canyons below.  From the vista point along the Hogs Back you can view the Lower Calf Creek trail that you have just finished hiking.

Lower Calf Creek Falls

The view of Calf Creek from along the trail. This photograph was taken at about 2/3rds of the way up the trail.

Sandstone and Slick Rock dominate the upper landscape. Take time to notice evidence of wildlife on the canyon floor and in the cliffs above. Notice the Beaver dam and pond in the lower right area of this photograph (click to enlarge).

Water "thunders" over the 126' falls

Swimmers often enjoy the cool waters of the pool below the falls during the warmer seasons of the year.

Above is the view of Calf Creek Canyon from the viewpoint along the section of Utah Hwy 12 known as the Hogs back, a section of road that follows the top of a narrow sandstone ridge. Along the shoulder of each side of the road cliffs drop precariously into deep canyons below.  Panoramic views abound along this scenic route.