About Pine Creek Falls
Pine Creek Falls was a pleasant little waterfall (possibly 25-30ft) downstream from its technical slot canyon near the giant alcove known as the Great Arch (not really a natural arch as the name implied).
What stood out to us about this waterfall was that we typically didn’t expect to find quiet waterfalls like this in Zion National Park.
After all, the park was not exactly known for waterfalls, and Pine Creek Falls was somewhat tricky to find despite its close proximity to Zion Canyon (i.e. the main touristy part).
Yet perhaps that was the very reason why this quiet little spot was somewhat secluded and far less busier than its neighboring Zion Canyon attractions.
It certainly seemed like the perfect escape to enjoy the relative quiet while cooling off from the desert heat, or at least provide an opportunity to enjoy a waterfall with a pool to play in.
Julie and I visited this waterfall back in April 2003 and then again in April 2018.
Based on our limited sample size, we can say that the flow of Pine Creek is highly dependent on how much snowmelt would drain into Pine Creek.
During the Summer monsoon season, there can be a flash flood risk, which was why we tended to time our visits to avoid rain.
That said, we can’t say much else about the reliability of its flow at other times of the year.
Anyways, I suspect that the reason why this waterfall wasn’t very well known (relatively speaking when you consider how crowded the Zion Canyon and its shuttle system can be) was because it wasn’t all that easy nor obvious to reach.
First, it wasn’t easy to find as there was no signpost indicating its presence (see directions below).
Second, we had to get through some fairly rough scrambling obstacles involving some mild dropoffs.
Indeed we had to exercise a little patience with the rough parts despite the relatively short distance we were covering on this excursion.
Then, there was the flash flood risk, which wasn’t lost on us as the boulder obstacles seemed more frequent on our latest visit than they were on our first visit 15 years prior.
Pine Creek Falls Trail Description – the scramble
This excursion started innocently enough with a fairly well-used informal trail that left the UT9 at a bridged hairpin turn traversing Pine Creek itself.
We then followed the trail as the wide canyon quickly narrowed, and pretty soon we found ourselves walking on sandy terrain belonging to the Pine Creek Wash.
Beyond the wash, the canyon narrowed even more to the point that we had to cross the creek a couple of times then negotiate some boulder obstacles.
In perhaps the most difficult obstacle of the excursion, we had to go around a fairly large stagnant pool that was wall-to-wall.
Both times we were here, we had to scramble up a wedged boulder on the right side of the pool.
Then, we had to cling onto a somewhat dicey sandstone ledge, which allowed us to climb even higher up the wall.
Finally, after scaling the wall, we’d finally get to flat enough ground to continue further upstream past this pool.
With the ever-present drop-off danger, a misstep here (especially with the potential for a slick surface due to rain) could mean a real nasty fall.
We felt that this was the one part where it was pretty sketchy for kids.
That said, according to some people we encountered here, there might be an easier path going around the left side of the stagnant pool though it was not as obvious to us.
And since we didn’t do it, we can’t really say more about it.
In any case, beyond the difficult pool and bouldering obstacle, we had to do a little more awkward scrambling.
One such bouldering obstacle involved getting through a stack of big wedged boulders that forced the adults to sprawl and crawl onto the bottom boulder while trying not to hit our heads on the upper boulder as we squeezed through the tight opening.
Since the kids were smaller, this was one obstacle where they actually fared much better than the adults.
When Julie and I first came here back in April 2003, I didn’t recall having to go through these additional boulder obstacles before.
So this suggested that years of flash flooding may have deposited more boulder obstacles, which wound up making this scramble a bit trickier than in the past.
Who knows if in the coming years whether this excursion will be even more difficult or perhaps easier depending on the whims of Mother Nature?
So that difficulty rating above (which we actually bumped up from our first time here) is really a snapshot of our assessment given our latest visit.
After the crawl obstacle, we then finally made it to the secluded Pine Creek Falls.
With the waterfall’s plunge pool, the kids wasted no time chucking rocks as well as also playing in the water.
Pine Creek Falls Trail Description – the return scramble and final thoughts
On our April 2018 visit, there was another family who arrived just as we did, and they seemed to already know this place.
So the father scrambled his way all the way to the backside of the Pine Creek Falls.
He then used the sloping surface as a waterslide to slide right into the plunge pool immediately at the base of the waterfall.
In addition to being a fun little play waterfall, the reddish ledges and the hint of even more tall sandstone cliffs in the distance made the falls pretty friendly for photographs.
Once we had our fill of the well-earned visit to Pine Creek Falls, we then scrambled back the way we came.
We had to be careful not to miss the tricky pool and scrambling obstacle on the return (or else risk going to a dropoff dead-end as my Dad almost did).
Then, we had to carefully maneuver our way back to the flatter terrain at the mouth of the pool.
Beyond the difficult scramble obstacle, the rest of the hike was pretty much a cake walk.
Overall, we spent on the order of 90 minutes on our April 2018 visit, and we probably spent closer to a little less than an hour on our first visit back in April 2003.
According to my GPS logs, the distance only covered about a half-mile round trip.
However, it was the bouldering obstacles and hazards that forced us to bump up the difficulty score.
Finally, we were aware that there was another more strenuous way to reach the waterfall, but that would require technical gear as it would involve canyoneering through the Pine Creek slot canyon.
While canyoneering is a pretty popular cult sport in the slot canyons of the desert southwest, this probably wouldn’t be an option for those of us who haven’t taken up the sport and would not be well-equipped enough to handle the technical obstacles.
Authorities
Pine Creek Falls resides in Zion National Park near Springdale in Washington County, Utah. It is administered by the National Park Service. For information or inquiries about the park as well as current conditions, visit their website.
The Pine Creek Falls was just east of Zion Canyon within the boundaries of Zion National Park.
The nearest town is Springdale, which was right at the southern entrance of the park literally at the mouth of Zion Canyon.
In order to reach the start of the hike and scramble, we had to drive north out of Springdale and into Zion National Park as the UT9 curved eastwards at the mouth of Zion Canyon.
Keeping straight past the bridge over the Virgin River, we’d then find parking at a large pullout area right at the start of a bend in the road at a bridge.
That bridge by the large pullout area was traversing Pine Creek.
Note that turning left at the bridge over the Virgin River would enter Zion Canyon where only authorized vehicles (namely shuttles, maintenance, and Zion Canyon Lodge guests) were allowed to drive in during peak season.
Anyways, this pullout was where the hike up the Pine Creek Wash began.
It was just under 2 miles north from the Watchman Campground turnoff, or about 1.6 miles down the switchbacks beyond the west exit of the Zion-Mt Carmel Tunnel (if you came in from the east).
One thing worth noting in crowded times (which was especially the case of our April 2018 visit) was that the limited parking in Springdale and the Zion Visitor Center area resulted in many parked cars clogging the shoulders all along the UT9.
This included the pullouts fronting the Pine Creek area.
There were a few more pullouts further up switchbacks on the UT9 towards the Zion-Mt Carmel Tunnel, but this obviously increased the hiking distance quite a bit.
For geographical context, Springdale is about 40 miles (about an hour drive) west of St George, 57 miles (a little over an hour drive) south of Cedar City, 43 miles (a little over an hour drive) west of Kanab, 83 miles (under 2 hours drive) southwest of Bryce Canyon City, 117 miles (under 2.5 hours drive) west of Page, Arizona, and 159 miles (over 2.5 hours drive) northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada.
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180 degree sweep from attractive downstream pool to the waterfall with people playing at the plunge pool
Semi circular sweep of the right side of the cove containing the waterfall before walking over to the other side for a more direct top down sweep of the falls
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