Great Eastern Ravine Falls
Great Eastern Ravine Falls
Sierra County, California
Description
Click to view photo(s)
This waterfall was a pretty "great" disappointment. We visited it before we had Anne Marie Brown's book (highly recommended) and was attracted by the name. Lo and behold when we got there after hiking straight uphill we found a creek with continuous mini-cascades. I thought to myself, "this can't be the waterfall." So, we walked a little ways upstream and saw pretty much the same thing up to where the creek splits. Then, we walked back downstream to see if there was anything better. There wasn't. We settled on photographing one of the taller cascades falling into a small pool with a log stretched across the creek. So in the end, we made a lot more effort to reach this "waterfall" than it was worth. Anne Marie Brown states it correctly in her book when she says, "Great Eastern Ravine is a waterfall to see if you like to hike. Hike uphill that is." The scenery in the area is beautiful, but I would recommend spending your time trying to see the falls along Haypress Creek.
Location
Great Eastern Ravine Falls: 39.5727 N, 120.5761 W
USGS Topo: Haypress Valley
Directions
From Sierra City, take CA-49 east ~0.4 miles and turn right onto Wild Plum Road. Follow the road for ~1.4 miles to the end of the campground and right in front of where a gate blocks the road (after you cross over the bridge over Haypress Creek). Walk up the road behind the gate for ~0.4 miles. Immediately after crossing over the bridge below East Wild Plum Falls take the trail to the left. Just before the trail turns to the east to cross over Haypress Creek there is a great view of the Sierra Buttes to the northwest. After being on this trail ~0.15 miles it crosses over Haypress Creek and continues to the northwest. After a further ~0.1 miles the trail intersects with the Haypress Creek Trail (turn right). Follow this trail NE passed where the National Forest land ends and private land begins (if you don't see the sign you'll notice that the trail suddenly becomes overgrown) until you intersect with the Great Eastern Ravine Creek (~1.0 mile from the trail intersection). The waterfall and pool that I took a picture of is a little ways downstream from where the trail intersects the creek. I didn't see any bigger waterfall upstream from the trail within ~0.1 miles.