Calf Creek Falls Recreation Area
Calf Creek Falls Recreation Area
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It takes time to get to, but Calf Creek falls are a recommended site to visit.
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
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5.0
643 reviews
Excellent
527
Very good
95
Average
20
Poor
0
Terrible
1
Cherie M
5 contributions
Sep 2020
This was a great hike with a beautiful reward at the end. I was expecting the hike to be more difficult because I read previous posts about deep sand like walking on the beach. There are areas where the sand is deep, but they are brief. Most of the trail is packed sand with beautiful views of the canyon. I would recommend starting early because it does get warm by noon.
Make sure you get the map with points of interest located at the trailhead. We were able to find a Native American pictograph and granaries while hiking. It also is informative on how this area formed geologically.
This hike is a must see!
Make sure you get the map with points of interest located at the trailhead. We were able to find a Native American pictograph and granaries while hiking. It also is informative on how this area formed geologically.
This hike is a must see!
Written September 22, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Linda P
Ballston Spa, NY408 contributions
Oct 2020
There is also upper falls which pops up on GPS a lot. This site is lower at a camping area with bathrooms and well marked trail. Parking fills quickly, very popular. but parking seems allowed all up drive and out to main road. A total of 5 miles is listed (2.5 each way) but it seemed further- the falls and shallow lake at end are worth it, the printed guide explains the route, with wildlife, trout, pictographs, river, and ancient food shelters visible on cliff tops part of walk. Try to avoid the "social" trails made by wanderers- there are markers and arrows. They will lead you off trail to dead ends. We saw three groups having to back track as they got stuck above the actual trail. Sound carries and we could hear them working it out.
Written October 17, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Paul S
Marion1,513 contributions
Nov 2019
We first took our kids to Calf Creek when they were 8 and 6 and they made the hike easily as there is not much elevation gain, just a long sandy slog. We have been back a couple times since, most recently on a nippy November day when there were no other cars in the lot or anyone else on the trail. In a high and arid land full of desert varnished cliffs and dry streambeds, it is quite spectacular to see such the high and voluminous Lower Calf Creek Falls. This is one of the easiest and most popular trails in the Grand Staircase/Escalante monument so if you want to avoid people during the summer season and don't mind some exposure instead of following the stream bed, brave the hogback on hwy 12 and take the shorter, steeper trail to the equally spectacular Upper Calf Creek Falls. There is even an upper upper falls beyond that if you are adventurous.
Written January 22, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Karen J
South Jordan, UT5 contributions
Jun 2020
We hiked down to Upper Calf Creek Falls. The hike itself and the falls are pretty. The reason I've rated it only average is because of the dogs. Dogs are allowed in the area but are supposed to be on 6-foot leashes. We ran into three dogs when we were there. None of them were on leashes. And some of them were a bit aggressive. The real problem, though, is that when dogs have the urge to take a crap, they do it wherever they happen to be. And when they’re not by their owners, the owners don’t know what’s happened and can’t clean it up. Even worse, people go to this area to spend time in the water – as do the dogs. Which means that we were all wading and swimming in the dogs’ bathroom. I found it disgusting.
Written June 9, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
atlas993
Elk Grove, CA551 contributions
Oct 2020 • Family
A local gave us a recommendation to come here with our kids and she was right! We arrived close to noon after a short hike gone wrong and the parking lot was nearly full. It was a little confusing where to go to just get into the creek and let the kids play without being in someone’s campground. After walking around for a bit we found a private area towards the front where we could sit and play in the creek. We were there in early October and the creek was freezing. The kids could care less though and had the best time ever just playing in the water and skipping stones. Definitely a perfect place for the kids to hang out for a few hours. If our kids were older we would have loved doing one of the hikes to the falls, but just enjoying the creek was fun for the young ones.
Written November 1, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
brentgeppert
Cerritos, CA40 contributions
Jul 2020 • Family
This hike is 3 miles into the lower Falls and then three miles back although you're hiking 90% on Sand it is a bit more difficult than normal hard-packed trail. The trail is very scenic but make sure you keep near the creek there are other trails that people have made that can be a little misleading. There are 13 trail markers so as long as you're seeing those markers you're on the right trail otherwise be careful. Make sure to get there early because the parking lot fills up rather quickly. Take lots of water and pace yourself if you're not an experienced hiker. The waterfall at the end is spectacular and the water is very cold but people were definitely swimming.
Written July 2, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Markobrown
Lacey, WA738 contributions
Oct 2022 • Couples
We spent three days touring Escalante area and our hike to this waterfalls was one of the highlights of our trip. It’s a fairly easy 3 mile hike in with a few places along the way that you need to be careful to follow the trail. The reward is this magnificent waterfall. One of the photos I took, we converted into a canvas print, which now hangs on the wall of our Utah townhome.
Written August 4, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Erda73
Salt Lake City, UT63 contributions
Jun 2020 • Family
We visited this beautiful waterfall 2 days ago. We traveled from Torrey just to do this hike. Took SR 12, beautiful scenic drive but made me( someone with occasional motion sickness) a bit quesy because of the winding and mostly one lane road. The path to the waterfall was easy to follow and enjoyable. We started our hike around 3 pm, took us almost 3 hours for the hike itself. The weather was around 80 degree, not too bad, the occasional wind and shade made-up for it. Don't forget to bring swimwear.
Written June 15, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
MikeB1952
Santa Fe, NM1,167 contributions
Apr 2021
The trail is pretty neat. It’s in a canyon that goes back away from the road. It travels along Calf Creek, a small, pretty little stream. The canyon walls climb high above the creek on both sides. There is some indication of Native American presence. The trail is sandy. Very sandy. Very fine sand sandy. It wasn’t hard to walk on. But certainly took more energy than a solid path. Generally, it wasn’t bad. And for much of the hike the trail ran rather close to the creek. But . . . and this is a big But, the trail ran up and down the sides of the canyon. There were numerous places where the trail climbed steeply over rather tall rocks (always a lot of rocks) where we had to take big steps up and big steps down to get over the rocks. Sometimes it was on solid rock. The steep places were both challenging and tiring. Overall, this was one of the most strenuous hikes we’ve taken in the last few years.
There are numerous features along the trail. BLM has developed a Trail Guide that points out several of them – some pictographs and several granaries all made by Native people long ago.
Oh, and the falls? Really neat. They fall in a mist over the side of the cliff top into a large pond. As one hiker noted, it’s a lot cooler at the falls than on the trail. We were tired. But marveled at the falls.
There are numerous features along the trail. BLM has developed a Trail Guide that points out several of them – some pictographs and several granaries all made by Native people long ago.
Oh, and the falls? Really neat. They fall in a mist over the side of the cliff top into a large pond. As one hiker noted, it’s a lot cooler at the falls than on the trail. We were tired. But marveled at the falls.
Written April 28, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
SBM50k
Alpharetta, GA14 contributions
May 2022 • Couples
Started hike midweek before 7am. Cool shaded walk. Stoped along the number signs. Info sheet is outside bathrooms. The falls were powerful even though it was very dry as it has not rained for a long time. We had the place to ourselves. So nice. On the way back we saw groups heading out. Not huge elevation but very sandy trails which made it harder.
Loved this hike!!! Beautiful scenery. Don’t forget to stop at post 8 to see the petroglyphs way across the river.
Loved this hike!!! Beautiful scenery. Don’t forget to stop at post 8 to see the petroglyphs way across the river.
Written May 28, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Is Calf Creek Falls Campground open? If so, is there an area to make reservations or is this a 'first come, first serve' area? thank you
Written October 8, 2024
Joel E
Costa Mesa, California
is there any fees or permits that i need to get in advance to hike peek-a-boo or lower calf creek falls??
Written March 31, 2022
Would I be able to pair peekaboo/spooky loop with lower calf creek falls or does that sound too ambitious?
Written September 20, 2019
Sounds like a super long day to me, to the point of being tiring instead of fun. I did Lower Calf Creek in an afternoon and it took the whole afternoon (3.5 hours I think). I had driven 12 from Torrey that morning and arrived at Escalante pretty tired that evening at dinner time. The drive to Spooky/Peekaboo is long on a bumpy road, and the hike is 4.5 miles there, so that would be a long day by itself. Even if it would technically be possible to fit both in one day, it doesn't sound like any fun to cram it in like that!
Written September 23, 2019
Hi, we are coming from Australia to Hanksville for the Mars Rover University Challenge and this looks like an awesome side trip! What are the nearby hotels or cabins for overnighting before the hike please?
Written April 1, 2018
We agree, Escalante, UT is the closest place to stay. We stayed at the "Circle D Motel" in Escalante after hiking Calf Creek Falls. We chose this hotel after checking reviews and rates. We ate twice at "Boots Cafe". You can check our review of both the hotel & restaurant on Tripadvisor. Best wishes for your trip!
Written April 4, 2018
Hi, we are coming from Australia to Hanksville for the Mars Rover University Challenge and this looks like an awesome side trip! What are the nearby hotels or cabins for overnighting before the hike please?
Written April 1, 2018
Hi Ozzy_trav,
We stayed at canyons bed and breakfast in escalante. Place was amazing. Might have a minimum of 2 nites however. Well worth it - there are so many hikes in the area close by to make it worth your while. Calf creek (about 1/2 hr away) is good but others w/ less people equally as good (or even better). Best benefit is Natalia can help you enjoy whatever you are looking for (check out our review of the place on TA). Have fun on your travels.
Written April 10, 2018
alguien puede decirme cuanto se tarda en llegar a las cataratas??
Written February 3, 2018
123/5000
Hay tres millas para una dirección. Dependiendo del clima, el estado fÃsico personal y los descansos fotográficos pueden ser de noventa minutos.
Written October 21, 2019
Is the road to calf creek falls accessible on motorcycles?
Written September 23, 2017
Do we take or wear a swimsuit? (Meaning, is there some rocks or somewhere to duck out of sight to change at the Falls?). Or, will the water be too cold in the end of May?
Written May 18, 2017
Not much privacy at all anywhere on this hike. Water was cold first week of June but people were swimming...
Written June 24, 2017
Michele B
Salt Lake City, Utah
I would like to find out about tent camping somewhere in the vicinity of Calf Creek, the chances of getting a spot, or the possibility of reserving a campspot.
Written May 18, 2017
There are 14 campsites right there. Looks like you can write, call or email to inquire about the site. Not sure if they take reservations, or if it's first-come, first-serve. Hope this helps!
Escalante Field Station
PO Box 225
(755 West Main Street)
Escalante, UT 84726
Phone:(435) 826-5600
Email:Mail_UT-Escalante@blm.gov
Written May 18, 2017
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