Water Wheel Falls Hike

Truly a perfect short hike with a great payoff swimming hole at the end! You start from the parking lot where there is a $9 parking fee. It sometimes can be full so try to get there earlier or not go during peak times.

The first part of the trek is on a well used path with the creek to the right of you and within a quarter mile in you will go up a small hill and is the only real “difficult” part of the hill. Once past that you are in the clear and it is just following the stream up to the top.

You can make things more of an adventure and more difficult by walking up through all of the stream to the top as well. If you have dogs they will love this part too. Within 30-45 minutes you will reach the falls with plenty of little swimming holes to hang out around. You can even jump off the log ladder into a deeper portion of the pools.

You can even go up further past the falls to Ellison Cascades, which is a great addition to the hike! Another quarter to half mile up you will find the confluence of the two creeks as well as the waterfall, which give the falls its name.