Lower Calf Creek Canyon Waterfall Trail Hike – 10/21/2022

We embarked on a short trip into southeastern Utah, to explore that territory and to eat at a special restaurant we’d heard about. We did not make this a camping/hiking trip, but stayed in commercial lodging enroute and at a BnB in Boulder, UT. See more in the BLOG post about the trip at Utah Trip – 10/19/2022-10/24/2022.

The Drive In

From Boulder, UT the trailhead is 12.7 miles south on UT 12, then turn right onto Calf Creek Road; a half mile to the trailhead. As we drove towards the trailhead, we stopped to take in the view of Calf Creek Canyon.

The Hike

Lower Calf Creek Canyon Waterfall Trail Hike.Pat.2022-10-21

Notes about the Google Earth screenshot: the graph at the bottom shows elevation of the track (pink area) and speed (the blue line).

‘Tis a popular trail – the parking lot had few spaces open in this narrow canyon when we arrived. After signing in, we started out on a well-used trail, to be greeted by the colorful canyon walls. About a half mile from the trailhead, we spotted the petroglyphs on the far wall that we had heard about.

Along the trail the canyon walls tower above us, with the spectacular colors of the various layers. And along Calf Creek, willow and other plants remind one that there is water in the Creek.

Of course, the attraction for this trail is Lower Calf Creek Falls. This is our first view of this 130 foot high waterfall. ‘Tho the day had been warm (we shed all but our last layer of clothing), the gallery around the falls was cool enough that we put a layer back on.

Statistics

Total Distance: 6.22 miles
Elevation: start 5,341 ft, maximum 5,634 ft, minimum 5,331 ft
Gross gain: 303 ft. Aggregate ascending 1342 ft, descending 1342 ft
Maximum slope: 74% ascending, 61% descending, 5.2% average
Duration: 4:52