Lower Calf Creek Falls

I arose with the rising of the sun at my campsite along Calf Creek knowing I would not catch any sunrise photos as the Navajo sandstone canyon walls are too steep and narrow. But I wanted to get as early of a start as possible so that I would have a chance to photograph the 126 foot falls before the anticipated crowds arrived. Calf Creek Falls is another location I found on Google Earth, and when I saw the pictures of it I knew I had go.

The trailhead was located within a five minute walk of my campsite along Calf Creek. I stopped along the way at the drinking water spigot to fill my water bladder before heading up to the trailhead where I picked up a trail guide that described various features encountered along the way. The trail to the falls is six miles round trip hike that follows Calf Creek Canyon to its end in a box canyon.

On the way up you pass an ancient Indian storage unit located high up on a cliff face called a “granary”. This granary was built 800-1000 years ago by either the ancient Anasazi or Fremont Indians, who farmed this canyon and stored their produce in granaries like this  Also along the way, you pass pictographs (like petroglyphs but drawn on rock instead of carved), also dating up to 1000 years old. An old fence built by early settler’s is seen which was used to keep young calf’s in the natural pasture created by the box canyon above the fence. Hence the name “Calf Creek.”

Arriving at the falls, I was happy to find that I was the only one there. Making photographing this beautiful little oasis all the easier. After having 45 minutes in this beautiful spot to myself, the crowds began to arrive and for me that meant it was time to head back down to camp, hop in Tiguan and make my way over to the “Hole In The Rock Road”.