Upper Calf Creek Falls (Grand Staircase National Monument, Utah, USA)

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Upper Calf Creek Falls

Upper Calf Creek Falls is a relatively little known 88ft waterfall that exists upstream from the wildly popular Lower Calf Creek Falls. The big reason why this waterfall is hidden in obscurity is that it's not easy to find. As a matter of fact, it took me three tries (see the trip reports below) to finally find it and even on the last attempt, we almost got lost looking for it (see the driving directions below).

Once you're at the car park, a trailhead register will greet you. Behind the register, you have to scramble down a steep sandstone incline with volcanic boulders thoughtfully lined up by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to help find your way (in both directions - going up and down).

Steep descent on the sandstone and slickrock From there, it's a mix of trail and sandstone sections marked with cairns. Eventually, you'll reach a spur where you can either descend to the base of the falls or climb to its top. The entire round trip distance is 2 miles but allow yourself around 2 hours for a little route finding and the uphill climbing on the way back.

This is one of those trails where you have to be both attentive and persistent because it's quite easy to get lost. Our experiences have proven that.

Directions: The trailhead for the falls is unsigned and is between mile markers 81 and 80 (very close to the 81 mile marker) a few miles north of the Calf Creek Recreation Area along the UT12. The spur road is pretty beat up and you'll have to walk this stretch after leaving your car at the start of the spur road if you don't have a high clearance vehicle. The spur road is about 1/4 mile so even the additional walk is reasonable should your vehicle not be able to make it across that rough stretch.

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Approaching Upper Calf Creek Falls

Approaching the elusive falls

Trying to find our way back up the friction pitch to our car

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TRIP REPORTS

For more information about our experiences with this waterfall, check out the following travel stories.

GUIDEBOOKS / OTHER RESOURCES

NEARBY WATERFALLS

Lower Calf Creek Falls

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