Columbine
Cascades
Also
known as
Hanging
Falls of Columbine Creek
My
favorite way to find “new” waterfalls is by walking downstream. That way I discover them from the
upstream side. It is very
impressive to first see them from the top…!!! They look way higher from above than they do from below.
...thrill
seeker...
...so
I first went to Cow Lake and approached everyone of these many waterfalls on
Columbine Creek from above. Nice.
The
photos below appear in the same order that I discovered them... and as they are
on the map below.
Here’s
a 15 footer...
...a small tributary
entered from the west by dropping over this 80’ high tiered waterfall. This falls may not be perennial.
next a 25 footer
then a 30’ high cataract
that is not as steep as the others however it does flow over slick, smooth,
solid bedrock, a beautiful white conglomerate.
and a’nuther 15 foot drop
and a three tiered 30 foot cataract…
then a 60’ high waterfall with two tiers... I call…
Upper Columbine Cascades
two 30’ live trees and one taller dead tree were hanging over in front of the falls... so here’s another shot of just the 40’ high lower tier.
next is this bouncy 40 footer…
and a’nuther…
then…
the
Grand Tomale
Columbine Cascades
Also known as…
Hanging Falls of Columbine Creek
130’ high- feast your eyes…!! On this
splendid multi-tiered Columbine Cascade…!!!
this
last photo is the 30’ high upper most tier of Columbine Falls
...it
can also be seen in the photo above… kinda hard to see up thru the trees at the
way... very top of the Columbine Falls.
beta facts:
name- Columbine Cascades also
known as Hanging Falls of
Columbine Crrek
height- 130’ high multi-tiered hanging
falls
elevation- 9100’
GPS coordinates- ±36°38.489’N 105°31.272’W
flow- perennial
season- late spring is best but summer and
fall are fine
accommodations- none
ownership- Carson National Forest
access- 3¼-mile hike with the last half
mile being a steep dangerous bushwhack-a-rooster…!!!
nearest town- Questa is 7½ miles northwest
and Red River is 8½ miles to the northeast
fun fact- hard to get to and wonderful…!!!
essay bro:
The entire Columbine Creek watershed is
splendid and beautiful… one of my favorites. More time there will uncover more waterfalls there. Go feel it and love it like I do. Columbine Cascades is awesome. Feel free to print your own copy of my
map below.
Columbine Cascades is a fine New Mexico
Treasure.
See also: Columbine Lake Photos Below this map as well as Courney Falls and Little
Columbine Falls
Enhanced National Geographic 7.5’ topo map
however some of the unlabeled falls shown below have not been field verified
_______________one
mile______________
note- the small round, blue dot on the creeks above shows
whitewater-cascades that are not falls
Columbine Lake See
the map above
Columbine Lake is an old lake that has filled in considerably. However it is in a beautiful setting a thousand feet below Columbine Mountain. I am not a Wildlife Biologist… but could beavers be planted here? It is fed with a strong flowing perennial spring and a few of their favorite trees (aspens) are around… could beavers resurrect Columbine Lake’s original beauty? …or is 10,900’ elevation too high for them...???
Beavers live at 10,500’ in Lagunitas Lakes… farther north than here…
Also… Look at the extreme right-hand edge of my map up above… those abandon beaver dams are amazingly huge… the biggest I have ever seen. Beavers could again thrive where they once thrived. The old dams are up to eight feet high.
Columbine
Lake is at the headwaters of the Lake Fork of Columbine Creek. It is within the Columbine-Hondo
Wilderness Study Area.
Send questions and comments to doug.vivian@yahoo.com