Mill Creek Falls and Barr Creek Falls

Prospect State Park / Medford, Oregon, USA

About Mill Creek Falls and Barr Creek Falls

For Subscribers Only. See Membership Options.

Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

Mill Creek Falls and Barr Creek Falls were one of those rare two-for-one waterfalling experience where you couldn’t say one played second fiddle to the other.

In fact, both waterfalls were within a stone’s throw from each other yet each were quite impressive in their own right as they each possessed good size as well as good flow.

Mill_Creek_Falls_prospect_024_07152016 - Mill Creek Falls in Prospect State Scenic Viewpoint
Mill Creek Falls in Prospect State Scenic Viewpoint

With Mill Creek Falls, one of the trail markings proclaimed this to be 173ft tall.

However, for a waterfall of this size, it had quite a gushing flow as it seemed like all of Mill Creek was hurled over a vertical cliff before crashing and joining up with the Rogue River down below.

With Barr Creek Falls, it was said to be taller at 242ft tall, but it possessed a lighter yet more graceful flow.

Barr Creek also made its contribution to the massive Rogue River right at the base of this waterfall.

Mill_Creek_Falls_prospect_046_07152016 - Barr Creek Falls
Barr Creek Falls

It was hard to tell which of the two we liked better – Mill Creek’s forcefulness or Barr Creek’s gracefulness.

Regardless of the comparisons, we were quite happy with the overall waterfalling experience as a whole, and in the end, that’s all that matters.

Hiking to Mill Creek Falls

From the well-established parking lot (see directions below), we were immediately able to assess what we were signing up for in doing this trail.

There was a large wooden signboard showing a map of the Mill Creek Falls Scenic Area.

Mill_Creek_Falls_prospect_008_07152016 - Mom and Dad descending from the trailhead parking at Prospect State Park in pursuit of both the Mill Creek Falls and Barr Creek Falls
Mom and Dad descending from the trailhead parking at Prospect State Park in pursuit of both the Mill Creek Falls and Barr Creek Falls

That was where we could see that we had to walk from the east end of the parking lot, which initially descended alongside Mill Creek Drive before continuing its descent as the trail veered further to the east.

As we made this descent, we saw that there was a steeper shortcut trail that led straight back up to the parking lot though I wondered if that was unsanctioned.

Anyways, all this downhill suggested that we would eventually go back up this way on the return hike and get back all that elevation loss.

After about five minutes removed from the parking lot, the wide and forested descending trail reached a junction.

Mill_Creek_Falls_prospect_011_07152016 - Mom and Dad heading to the right at this trail junction with the pi-shaped sign at the bottom of the descent en route to the Mill Creek Falls and Barr Creek Falls
Mom and Dad heading to the right at this trail junction with the pi-shaped sign at the bottom of the descent en route to the Mill Creek Falls and Barr Creek Falls

The pi-shaped sign pointed left for “Giant Boulders” (i.e. the Avenue of the Giant Boulders) and it pointed right for “Falls”.

Obviously, we kept right and continued along the still-wide and forested trail for the next 7 minutes or so (passing by some interesting rocks along the way) before reaching another pi-shaped sign.

This time the sign pointed left for “Mill Cr 173′” and right for “Barr Cr 242′”.

We first kept left where just a few paces further, we got to look right across the Rogue River Gorge at the plunging Mill Creek Falls.

Mill_Creek_Falls_prospect_020_07152016 - Context of Mom checking out Mill Creek Falls
Context of Mom checking out Mill Creek Falls

There were false paths throughout the hike perhaps in an effort to improve the view, but the sanctioned view was clearly the best one.

That said, we did notice that trees growing from the bottom conspired to block the bottom portions of the waterfall’s overall drop.

With the late afternoon light during our visit, it seemed to be the best time for a visit as the soft light from the sun provided nice backlighting against the white plume of Mill Creek Falls.

Hiking to Barr Creek Falls

After having our fill of the look-but-don’t-touch Mill Creek Falls, we then followed the other side of the pi-shaped sign and walked another couple of minutes towards some rock outcrop.

Mill_Creek_Falls_prospect_038_07152016 - Mom and Dad pursuing the outcrops up ahead affording us a view towards Barr Creek Falls
Mom and Dad pursuing the outcrops up ahead affording us a view towards Barr Creek Falls

At this outcrop, we climbed up to its top and got to peer right across the Rogue River in an open setting towards Barr Creek Falls.

We were also able to peer further downstream at the Rogue River making its meander further towards the south.

Meanwhile looking in the opposite direction, we could also get obstructed views of Mill Creek Falls making us realize just how close together these impressive waterfalls were.

Like with Mill Creek Falls, Barr Creek Falls also benefitted from the late afternoon lighting of our end-of-the-day visit so we probably timed our visit perfectly.

Mill_Creek_Falls_prospect_048_07152016 - Context of the Barr Creek Falls and some neighboring cliffs and trees as seen from the outcrop at the end of the trail
Context of the Barr Creek Falls and some neighboring cliffs and trees as seen from the outcrop at the end of the trail

When we had our fill of this falls, we returned back the way we came and got back to the parking lot just under an hour after we had gotten started.

If we were so inclined, we could have taken the other path in the junction (before the climb back up the parking lot) towards the Avenue of the Giant Boulders.

I believe it was another half-mile (one-way) or so further upstream from this first pi-junction we encountered.

Instead, we visited that other attraction from Pearsony Falls, which we’ll get into in a separate write-up.

Authorities

Mill Creek Falls and Barr Creek Falls reside in the Prospect State Scenic Viewpoint near Medford in Jackson County, Oregon. They are administered by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website.

Maps and Routing Content are for annual subscribers. See Membership Options.
Content is for subscribers. See Membership Options.
Tagged with: prospect, state park, medford, oregon, waterfall, rogue river, mill creek falls, barr creek falls, southern cascades, jackson county, cascades



Visitor Comments:

Got something you'd like to share or say to keep the conversation going? Feel free to leave a comment below...

No users have replied to the content on this page


Share your thoughts about what you've read on this page

You must be logged in to submit content. Refresh this page after you have logged in.

Visitor Reviews of this Waterfall:

If you have a waterfall story or write-up that you'd like to share, feel free to click the button below and fill out the form...

Mill Creek Falls February 25, 2023 10:21 am by Philipp Merillat - Mill Creek Falls at Prospect State Scenic Viewpoint is within a quarter mile of Barr Creek Falls. ...Read More
Barr Creek Falls December 20, 2020 9:30 pm by Philipp Merillat - Barr Creek Falls is located within the Prospect State Scenic Viewpoint near Medford. There are several other beautiful waterfalls within this park all within a short hike of others. ...Read More

Have you been to a waterfall? Submit a write-up/review and share your experiences or impressions

Review A Waterfall

Nearest Waterfalls

The Waterfaller Newsletter

The Waterfaller Newsletter is where we curate the wealth of information on the World of Waterfalls website and deliver it to you in bite-sized chunks in your email inbox. You'll also get exclusive content like...

  • Waterfall Wednesdays
  • Insider Tips
  • User-submitted Waterfall Write-up of the Month
  • and the latest news and updates both within the website as well as around the wonderful world of waterfalls


How To Build A Profitable Travel Blog In 4 Steps

Johnny Cheng

About Johnny Cheng

Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
Read More About Johnny | A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls.