Feather Falls – Hiking to Northern California’s Towering Waterfall

Hikers can see the 410-feet waterfall cascade in its full glory year-round

Before being accurately measured, Oroville’s Feather Falls was considered the sixth tallest waterfall in the United States. Though widely reported, the height of the falls is not 640-feet, but instead 410-feet (pretty impressive either way).

Hikers can see the cascade in its full glory year-round via Feather Falls Trail. Many who complete the trek rank Feather Falls among the most beautiful sights in Northern California.




Distance: 9-mile loop

Difficulty: Moderate to strenuous

Accessibility: Year-round, best to go in late April when snow starts to melt

Directions: From Oroville, take Hwy 162 east (Olive Hwy) for 6.7 miles, turn right on Forbestown Road for 6.3 miles, turn left on Lumpkin Road for 11.4 miles to the signed turnoff for Feather Falls. Turn left at sign and drive 1.5 miles to the trailhead.

The Trail

Feather Falls Trail is a 9-mile loop trail with a 4.5-mile upper loop and a 3.5 mile lower loop. You hike in from the trailhead about a half mile before reaching the junction of the upper and lower loops. Many hikers start by taking the shorter, more difficult, lower loop, but we recommend beginning on the upper loop, which takes about the same time to complete.

If you commence on the upper loop, you only have to trek uphill for about two miles of your journey. Most of the steep, difficult terrain lies on the final section of the lower loop. Because tree-cover shades much of the path, Feather Falls Trail makes for an outstanding summer hike.




Along the route, you’ll spot Bald Rock Dome, Bald Rock Canyon, beautiful Feather Falls (of course) as well as a few nice footbridges and smaller waterfalls. The viewing platform for the falls is a great place for a pitstop and provides incredible views of Feather Falls.

From here, you can choose to take a (highly recommended) 1-mile hike to the top of the cascade. Go left where the trail splits to get to the edge of the falls. Be careful and watch for slippery rocks.




Visitors should look out for poison oak along the route and take proper precautions. Bring plenty of water. Feather Falls trail is a high-traffic route especially on the weekends so either start early, head out during the week or brave the crowds. In total, the entire trek takes between four and six hours for most groups.

Here are some of our favorite photos from the beast of a waterfall:

#featherfalls #waterfall #rainbow #nature

A post shared by Nathan Gibbs (@nathantadgibbs) on

Magnificent! #featherfalls #waterfalls

A post shared by Jenifer Johnson (@jenilou1965) on

We’ll see you out there!

Active NorCal

Telling the Stories of Northern California

29 Comments

  1. Hey there this is somewhat of off topic but I was wanting to know if blogs use WYSIWYG
    editors or if you have to manually code with HTML.
    I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding knowledge so I wanted to get guidance from
    someone with experience. Any help would be enormously appreciated!

  2. Hello i am kavin, its my first time to commenting anyplace, when i read this piece of writing i thought i could also create comment due to this good post.

  3. I get pleasure from, lead to I discovered exactly what I used to be looking for.
    You have ended my 4 day lengthy hunt! God Bless you man. Have a nice day.

    Bye

  4. Hello everyone, it’s my first pay a visit at this website, and article
    is in fact fruitful in favor of me, keep up posting
    these types of articles or reviews.

  5. Woah! I’m really loving the template/theme of this website.
    It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s very hard to get that “perfect balance” between user friendliness
    and visual appearance. I must say you’ve done a excellent job with this.

    Also, the blog loads extremely quick for me on Chrome. Excellent Blog!

  6. I was recommended this blog by way of my cousin. I’m not certain whether this submit is written by him as nobody else recognize such specified about my
    trouble. You’re incredible! Thanks!

  7. Write more, thats all I have to say. Literally, it seems as though you relied on the
    video to make your point. You obviously know what youre
    talking about, why throw away your intelligence on just posting
    videos to your blog when you could be giving us something enlightening
    to read?

  8. I love what you guys are up too. This kind of clever work and reporting!

    Keep up the superb works guys I’ve incorporated you
    guys to blogroll.

  9. I’ve been exploring for a little for any high-quality articles or
    blog posts in this kind of space . Exploring in Yahoo I eventually stumbled upon this website.

    Studying this info So i am satisfied to show that I’ve an incredibly just right uncanny feeling I came upon just what I needed.
    I such a lot no doubt will make certain to do not disregard this website and provides it a glance on a relentless basis.

  10. Hi! This is my 1st comment here so I just wanted to
    give a quick shout out and tell you I really enjoy reading through
    your blog posts. Can you suggest any other blogs/websites/forums that deal with
    the same topics? Appreciate it!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Back to top button