Hilt Creek Falls

RATING - 54.0

VR - 6.0 (Med) HR - 6.0 SR - 18/20

TYPE OF APPROACH - Roadside

DIFFICULTY - Very Easy

LOCATION - Illabot Creek Road

TYPE - Tiered

HEIGHT - 179'

WIDTH - 20'

DIRECTIONS - Head east along Highway 20 and turn south onto Highway 530. In a couple miles, turn left onto Illabot Creek Road. At the 2 mile marker is a small pullout. Park there and follow the short but somewhat steep trail a couple hundred feet to views. It is also possible to scramble to the base of the falls. Seeing the top tiers requires fording a small tributary stream and scrambling up a steep hillside.

Hilt Creek has three major waterfalls along its route. Hilt Creek Falls is the easiest of the three to view. The falls contain three major tiers: a 29' plunge into a dark grotto. a 55' tall fan shaped drop, and a 65' tall drop to finish it all off. In addition there are 20' worth of cascades between the various tiers that brings the total height to 179', quite a bit taller than previously thought. At high volume the waterfall is really impressive, but it's photographic qualities, especially the middle tier, really show up at lower volumes. When the creek is high it is almost impossible to photograph the middle tier because of all the spray kicked up, but at lower levels, this is an absolutely gorgeous waterfall. I highly recommend visiting this one in autumn as the leaves on the surrounding trees add a lot to the scene.