Jackass Creek Falls
Jackass Creek Falls
Plumas County, California
Description
Click to view photo(s)
Location
This is a nice pair of waterfalls located only a short distance from CA-70 in the North Fork Feather River Canyon. The Lower Falls are sometimes referred to simply as Jackass Falls, however the other Jackass Falls in California (Madera County) is much larger. Nonetheless, the Lower Falls along with the Middle Falls are worth visiting if you're in the area. To reach the base of the Lower Falls requires some steep off-trail scrambling, but is worth the effort. To reach the base of the Middle Falls would require battling some pretty nasty thorny vines (still have to battle some as you make your way to the Lower Falls). There is an Upper Falls further upstream of these two, but it would take over 600' of elevation gain to reach it.
Middle Jackass Creek Falls: 39.9356 N, 121.3183 W
Lower Jackass Creek Falls: 39.9348 N, 121.3169 W
USGS Topo: Storrie
Directions
The Lower Falls are located across the North Fork Feather River from CA-70, just south of the Tobin bridge, ~26.0 miles southwest of the junction with CA-89 (~34.5 miles northeast of CA-149). To get to the Middle Falls and the base of the Lower Falls, turn left onto a dirt road ~0.4 miles northeast of the Tobin bridge to where it meets Jackass Creek. Cross the creek over the bridge and park on the southern side of the creek. From here, to see the Middle Falls you need to walk on the ridge south of the creek to the southeast until you get a side-view of the Middle Falls. To get a better view continue to the southeast along the ridge (watch out for thorny vines) until the ridge starts to turn more towards straight east and starts to descend towards the railroad tracks. A little ways below the top of the ridge is a clear view of the two major tiers of the Middle Falls. To get to the base of the Lower Falls continue from this point downhill to the east, where towards the bottom a lightly used trail appears before arriving at the railroad tracks. Check and make sure no trains are coming before crossing the tracks and then off the southern side of the creek make your way down towards the North Fork American River (very steep). After scrambling down (and depending on the amount of flow) you can get side-views or straight-on views of the Lower Falls.