Falls
Creek Falls
This is the bottom
80 feet of Lower Falls Creek Falls
This is the top 60 feet of Lower Falls Creek
Falls
This
is the bottom 100’ of Upper Falls Creek Falls This
is the top 100’ of Upper Falls Creek Falls
Falls
Creek Mountain 10,274’ is one of my favorite mountains in New Mexico. It is solid pink Granite and gives birth to
three waterfalls
over 100 feet high:
Lower Falls Creek Falls 120’, Upper Falls Creek Falls 200’ and then on it’s west slope is Brazel Falls
300’. This photo is
of it’s east
face. The granite outcroppings
in the lower left is where Falls Creek Falls are.
From the road into Falls Creek Falls you will enjoy some splendid views of Hermit Peak 10.247’… I call him “Big Hermie”.
beta facts:
name- Falls Creek Falls …Upper and Lower
height- Upper is about 200’ and Lower is about
120’
elevation- 8000’
GPS coordinates- ±35°37.030’N 105°29.000’W
flow- perennial …and we did see a small trout
below the lower falls.
season- spring is best but the photos above were
taken in the summer.
accommodations- no trespassing…!!!!
ownership- Santa Fe National Forest
access- Our route outlined in red on the map below
was about 3 miles one way.
nearest town- Las Vagas
is about 18 miles east of here.
fun fact- This is truly a great New Mexico
treasure.
essay bro:
Hunt and peck… Man it is hard to find a
legal way into these waterfalls. We did
find a small two-track road that is a driveway… that is not posted with no trespassing signs.
This place is shown on the map below off of county road A-16C. 3 signs on a tree mark this road: NO HUNTING…
NIEBORHOOD WATCH… and a small red place number sign that I think said 702… a… er…. Good luck. We
parked about 150 feet off of the county road next to a locked gate that was not
posted… and we left a note with our names, phone numbers and addresses on the
dashboard of our car. We also displayed
our New Mexico State Land Recreation Permit. we bushwhacked into
the falls thru the woods and not on any roads.
Your topo reading skills will have to be quite good.
Also approaching these falls from the east
you will have to have a permit from the State of New Mexico to cross the
section of State Trust Land. For details
about this permit please see: http://www.nmstatelands.org/Recreational_Access.aspx
Actually Falls Creek Falls can be accessed
totally on forest service land from the south – Barillas Peak Lookout, and from
the southwest – Apache Canyon and from the west - Brazel
Park… check your Santa Fe National Forest map.
These routes are long, steep and hard with no trail.
See
also nearby: Brazel Falls west
of here about 3 miles.
Enhanced USGS 7.5’ topo map
____________one mile____________
Send questions and comments to doug.vivian@yahoo.com