Falls Creek Waterfall Hike in Durango

Falls Creek Waterfall Hike in Durango

If you are looking for a nice, short waterfall hike in the spring and summers in Durango, The Falls Creek Waterfall Hike might be a perfect option. The hike is short with some great views before ending at a small waterfall with some access behind the fall.

Getting Started

The Falls Creek Waterfall Hike begins on the Church Camp trail and is part of the Durango Trails trail system. The Church Camp trail system has about 5 miles of trails. The trailhead that I found was located at a small clearing on the side of Falls Creek Main road. There was room for a few cars and a trail that cut across an amazing meadow just off the road.

There are other ways to get to this intertwined trail system but this was where my AllTrails app had me start the trail from. After the meadow, the trail enters into a moderately dense wooded area and crosses over Falls Creek. After crossing the creek, the trail will come to a junction and head next to the creek for the next third of a mile until the waterfall.

The Hike

The hike is fairly easy. There is gentle downhill slope all the way to the waterfall. This does mean that the trail will be uphill on the way back! The slope does have a small section near the waterfall that has up to a 12% grade. However, this is a short section and the trail is wide so there is plenty of room to take a break if needed.

After the meadow and before the waterfall the trail is a really nice tree covered path. The summer flowers were blooming and the shade was nice to have. The meadow is also really great in the summer months with tall green grasses and large red rock cliffs in the distances.

While these views are lovely, the real hero of the hike is the Falls Creek Waterfall.

Falls Creek Waterfall

Falls Creek Waterfall is pretty amazing. At first I thought I would walk past it. Falls Creek was a slow moving small creek and I didn’t think at all that it would be able to produce such a cool waterfall. The summer weather had the water up though and the falls had a solid water flow. The drop was about 15-20 feet and was really nice!

As you come to the Falls Creek Waterfall, you will be near the top and able to see the creek, the falls, the landing pool and the continuing flow of the creek down the hill. That isn’t what makes this one so special.

There is a rocky and somewhat steep path down to the base of the falls. From there the area behind the falls is open and it is easy to walk behind the falls without getting too wet. This gives a great perspective and view of the water and the creek. On a nice warm day I was all for the mist that was blowing into the small cave behind the falls!

This was one of my favorite falls because of the ability to get behind and see the water from behind. It was such a nice and pretty setting and I definitely spent a bit of time enjoying it!

Video of the Falls Creek Waterfall Hike

I have put this time-lapse video together of hiking Lake Nighthorse so other hikers can get a feel of what the hike is like. If you enjoy this video make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel. It is free to subscribe and you will get the latest outdoor content.

Distance and Elevation

If you don’t have the AllTrails app you might want to check it out, I really love mine. It records your progress and is a great way to search for hikes that are nearby and gives you difficulty measurements. According to AllTrails today’s hike was around 0.95 miles and had a total elevation gain of about 131 feet including undulations. That put the high point at around 7,100 feet. I was also moving for a total of 24 minutes.

I am a Pro member of AllTrails and love it. If you are interested in the platform, please consider using my affiliate link for AllTrails. It gives me a small commission with no extra cost to you.

Effort

This should be a fairly easy hike for most people. There are some narrow trails to walk on and some older wood bridges that aren’t in great condition. For the most part the trail is easy to handle with just a little bit of elevation to get down to the waterfall. Overall I am going to rank this as an easy hike.

Terrain

The path to the Falls Creek Waterfall is pretty easy to follow and mostly flat. There is a bit of an incline near the falls but the trail is wide. There is a bit of rocky terrain as you get closer to the falls as well. I think that having a good pair of hiking shoes would help with the downhill slope and definitely the grip would help around the falls.

Access

The Falls Creek Waterfall Hike is located in the city of Durango. It is managed by the Durango Trails Group. The parking that I found was just a small pull off on the side of the road that had room for about 4 cars. There were no restroom facilities at this location.

Wrapping up the Hike to the Falls Creek Waterfall

The hike to Falls Creek Waterfall was really awesome. It started with the awesome meadow and led to one of my favorite waterfalls! I loved being able to get behind the falls and enjoy the views from that perspective.

The hike is short and it was a perfect way to spend a quick afternoon enjoying some nature!

I have added this hike and all of my hikes to the interactive map page you can find here. If you have any suggestions for hikes or comments feel free to email me at fatmanlittletrails@gmail.com or you can follow me on any of the below social media platforms. Happy Hiking!

Gallery of the Falls Creek Waterfall Hike in Durango