Hedge Creek Falls: A Short Hike To An Incredible Waterfall

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While not a grand sight or a long, deep hike into the wilderness, Hedge Creek Falls still packs a punch as a highly scenic, simple trail terminating at the 35-foot waterfall spilling over a hanging wall of basalt.

The trail’s unique feature, aside from the waterfall itself, gives hikers the rare chance of going behind the waterfall via a large cleft in the rock.

Hedge Creek Falls is perfect for families with small children, pets, or anyone who happens to be driving by and wants to stretch their legs. Both the parking lot and trailhead are conveniently located right off Interstate-5.

In this guide, we’ll cover everything you’ll need or want to know about hiking to Hedge Creek Falls. Let’s get into it.

Quick Stats

• Location: Dunsmuir, CA

• Fee/Permit: None

• Open: All year

• For: Hikers

• Parking: Small dirt lot across the street from the trailhead

• Restroom: Port-O-Potty in the parking lot

• EV Stations: None

• Drone Use: No signs stating you can’t

• Difficulty: Easy

• Popularity: Moderate

• Time: Less than an hour

• Milage: 0.7-miles, out and back

• Elevation Gain: 200 feet

• Trail Condition: Well maintained

• Main Feature(s): 35 foot waterfall, views of Mount Shasta, and views of the Sacramento River

• Pets: Allowed on leash

• Special Notes/Hazards: Vehicle break-ins are common in the trail’s parking lot

• Our Visit(s): May 2022

*Please practice leave no trace principles and keep to the trail

Trailhead and Parking

The Hedge Creek Falls trail is probably one of the easiest trailheads on earth to find. Both it and the parking lot are located directly off Interstate-5 on Dunsmuir Ave.

Whether you’re traveling south or north on I-5S, you will see signs for Hedge Creek as you get close. From either direction, take exit #732 and go right on Dunsmuir Ave and it’ll be right there.

If you’re coming from Burney Falls, simply travel north on CA-89 for about 56-miles before jumping on Interstate-5 south for a short time. From there, follow the same directions above.

The parking lot is of the dirt variety and small. It fills rather quickly in the summer so the sooner you can arrive, the better. To find the trailhead, simply cross the street.

The Trail

The trail begins just past the water fountain on the left. It’s a well maintained, packed dirt trail with very little tripping hazards (rocks, branches, etc).

You’ll descend down to the falls under the cover of trees, providing plenty of shade even on the sunniest of days. After just a few minutes, you’ll take note of the sounds of Hedge Creek.

After just ten minutes or so, you’ll arrive at the waterfall. The time of year you’re visiting will determine how heavy the flow is. We were here in May and it wasn’t flowing very heavily.

As you approach the falls, the trail temporarily gets rockier (and slick during the winter) due to how close you’re able to get to both the falls and the creek.

Here, you’ll have the rare opportunity to walk directly behind a waterfall. There’s a large cleft cut into the columnar basalt wall for you to walk through.

You’ll also take notice of the dozens of handprints all over the walls of the hanging rock. These were left by visitors who used the mud in the cleft to leave those prints.

From here, the trail continues for another tenth of a mile to a spectacular view of the Sacramento River and an ‘ok’ view of the summit of Mount Shasta (the rest is obstructed by trees).

Onward to Mossbrea Falls

Now, there’s (almost) nowhere left to go. Most will simply turn around and go back their car. Others could cross the river (if it’s safe) and continue on to an even more beautiful waterfall, “Mossbrea Falls”.

Currently, there’s only an unofficial trail to Mossbrea that requires hikers to commit the crime of trespassing on more than one occasion. So the only other way is to cross the river.

The Mount Shasta Trail Association has been making efforts to finally construct an official trail. Essentially, the plan is to connect Mossbrea Falls to the Hedge Creek Falls trail via a bridge over the river.

Unfortunately, there hasn’t been much progress as the last update given by the MSTA was back in July of 2020. If you want to keep tabs on this project, go here.

Hopefully this project will pick up steam soon because Mossbrea Falls is amazing and it’s criminal that it can’t be accessed without risking a misdemeanor charge.

Have you been to Hedge Creek Falls? Or are you a local and have heard any rumors about the trail to Mossbrea or what the hold up’s about? Lets us know about it in the comments below!

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