Lower Calf Creek Falls

After a night of camping at our traditional spot at Navajo Lake, I decided that I would see if my 11, 8, 7, and 5 year olds were up for a 6 mile hike to Calf Creek. I had heard that it was a very beautiful hike and that it shouldn't be too challenging for my kids, who do a lot of hiking with me.

Navajo Lake is located East of Cedar City on hwy 14 so we continued East on 14 until we reached hwy 89. We went north on 89 until we came to hwy 12. Once on hwy 12, we looked for the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument Visitor Center in the town of Escalante (Calf Creek is located inside of the National Monument).

To get to Calf Creek, we continued east on hwy 12 for about 12 miles past the town of Escalante. There we saw a sign indicating that Calf Creek Campground was off to the left of the highway. So we turned off the highway and found a rather large parking area that was just about completely full of cars. There is also a restroom and fee area located in the parking area.

From the number of cars in the parking lot, we knew that we were going to encounter a lot of hikers on the trail. We summoned all our gear and tried to figure out where the trail head started. What we finally figured out was to follow the road that leaves the parking area on the far side and heads to the campground. After a few hundred yards of hiking on this paved road, a sign off to the left marks the trail head and there is a trail register to sign in this spot as well.

The well-marked trail immediately started climbing which instantly struck fear into some of the little kids who much prefer a level grade. But the climbing was short lived. The trail was a little sandy and rocky but easy going.

There are 14 markers along the way that can help you mark your progress and also serve as interpretive stops. A trail guide located at the trailhead gives more information about each stop. Some of the stops would be really interesting to see, but because I didn't want to stop the momentum of the kids who were still trying to prove their hiking prowess, I missed the pictographs and the granaries painted and built by the ancient Freemont Indians between 700 and 1300 AD.

At times the trail wound it's way through tight oak lined forests, and at other times, just stayed above the river below, which wasn't visible for much of the beginning of the hike because of the dense vegetation surrounding it.

Soon we could see that the trail was taking us into a canyon with sandstone walls rising up higher and higher around us. Not too long after entering the canyon, we could see the falls in the distance. The kids, who were becoming a little tired by this point, received their second wind and excitedly picked up their pace.

When we arrived at the beautiful 126 foot high falls we noticed that the temperature dropped significantly. The cool mist off the falls was a welcome change from the dry, hot air we felt previously. The kids immediately saw the pool that was formed at the base of the falls. They ran over and felt the coolness of the water. A few other people around actually swam to the falls in the frigid water.

 

After having snacks, taking pictures, and digging in the sand, we decided to head back. Trey and Shelby, my 8 and 7 year olds, led the way and speed walked all the way back to the car. My 5 year old wasn't as energetic and had to be prodded a long during some parts of our hike as we returned to our car.

In all, the hike was about 5.84 miles round trip and took us about 3 hours of hiking time to complete. The middle of June is a hot time to do this hike, but we brought lots of water with us and all did it without difficulty.