Upper Hilt Creek Falls
RATING - 32.0
VR - 4.0 (Sm/M) HR - 6.0 SR - 8/20
TYPE OF APPROACH - Roadside
DIFFICULTY - Very Easy
LOCATION - Illabot Creek Road
TYPE - Cascades
HEIGHT - 165'
WIDTH - 10'
DIRECTIONS - Head east along Highway 20 and turn south onto Highway 530. In a couple miles, turn left onto Illabot Creek Road. At around 5.5 miles, the road goes over Hilt Creek. On the right side of the road you can clearly see the 34' tall upper section of the falls. The lower, main portion is downstream from the road and is more difficult to view.
Hilt Creek has three major waterfalls along its route. Upper Hilt Creek Falls is the uppermost of the three and the only one that isn't fairly well known. The falls are basically a long series of cascades with a couple of drops being in the 40' range. The falls begin with the pretty 34' tall set of cascades that can be seen from the car. What most people don't know is that the waterfall continues below the road for another 130' or so. The stuff below the road is difficult to view because of the twisting nature of the canyon and the steep sides. You can get views of individual tiers if you don't mind working for it, but it's impossible to see the whole lower part from one spot. This is not a waterfall that anyone can see as it will require a lot of work to get good views of the lower portion. For most visitors, the upper tier above the road is a nice easy trip to a very pretty waterfall.