It's been raining quite a bit lately, but no torrential downpours just an
inch or less almost every day. I suppose
this is the way you want it, plenty of spring rain without any flooding. So of course waterfalls should be looking
great, the thing about most waterfalls is: they usually involve a lot of
elevation change, it just goes with the territory. Which is why we try to visit the falls after
ample rainfall, it can be pretty disappointing to do a bunch of climbing up and
down for a ‘dry’ waterfall.
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looking west down Boen Gulf
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For
me a hike that involves a lot of climbing to reach a waterfall tends
to get pushed onto the back burner, while I wait for perfect
conditions. I seem to have a lot of
waterfalls on that ‘back burner’ so today with nearly perfect conditions for
waterfall chasing I’ve picked Paradise Falls on Boen Gulf in the Upper Buffalo
Wilderness.
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over the berm and down the good trail
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Another
reason I have put off this area for a hike: all my ‘favorite’
authors/outdoorsmen who have written about the hike use phrases like ‘difficult
to strenuous’ or ‘all bushwhacking’ and ‘steep rugged’ ‘use caution’...on and
on and on. Well it’s no wonder
Paradise Falls has been on my back burner list for so long but today I’m going to at least make an attempt to get down to some falls in the upper north
fork of Boen Gulf.
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| looking east @ first sighting of Boen Gulf |
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waterfall 1
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The
parking lot is empty when I pull in off SR 21 about 10 in the morning, I
thought being Saturday there would be at least a couple cars here. I head out over the dirt berm down the old road which is the trail, there are a few muddy spots up here near the top
but not bad at all considering all the recent rain. A couple more faint road crossings, but just
continue down the most obvious path, it’s easy and well used.
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tumbling water on Boen Gulf
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At
about 400 yards on this old road is a rock cairn at an obvious trail heading
west into the woods, I turn here. Still
downhill but not steep at all, just easy gentle downslope through open woods on
an excellent trail. Along here a
little spring is pumping out water right on the trail then a little further the
trail merges onto an old road trace and continues downhill along a small feeder
stream. Soon I start hearing the sweet
sounds of moving water and know I’m getting close to Boen Gulf.
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waterfall 2
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Just
before this old road reaches then crosses Boen Gulf, is a trail intersection
heading both up and downstream, turning left downstream right away is a lovely
ledge waterfall 6 or 7 feet tall and maybe 8 feet wide, wrapping around the north
side from the falls is a long low grotto or wet shelter. Downstream just 150 feet past the falls, this
‘side trail’ rejoins the ‘main trail’ and I’m really ‘feeling the love’ for all
these unexpected trails.
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Twisted Knee Falls from both sides of the creek
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‘Trails’
are a good thing, especially when hiking along a rocky stream in a tight canyon
with shear rock walls getting taller the further you go. Yes, trails are good, but I don’t want to jinx
my good fortune, instead I focus on the fantastic scenery consisting of loads
of short cascades everywhere up and down the creek and all the umbrella
magnolia lining the creek banks. After
maybe 400 yards of contemplating the ‘good life on a good trail’ I notice
another little waterfall that needs to be checked out, and wouldn’t you know it,
a side trail leads me right to it.
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| bonus falls below Chumfarger |
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Chumfarger Falls
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After
a couple pictures I’m back on the main trail, 100 yards later is another obvious
trail intersection. The trail north
heads down a steep bank back to Boen Gulf, the trail south stays mostly ‘flat’
and heads up a major side drainage to Twisted Knee Falls. I go south, it’s only about 100 yards to
beautiful Twisted Knee Falls that’s about 10 feet tall and just as wide. From here in front of the falls are some
great views of Twisted Knee but no way down the steep bank to the base of the
falls, so I continue upstream where I find a good place to cross.
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(wet weather) bonus falls
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From
here on the west bank I get a different perspective but still don’t find a safe
way to the bottom. And the trail just
sort of fades away, I circle around above the creeks to the northwest
eventually landing back on the main ‘Paradise Falls Trail’. Right away is a trail intersection, I leave
the main trail heading down a side trail to Chumfarger Falls which today
anyway is three waterfalls.
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| waterslide below Hargfarger |
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waterfall 5
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First
the traditional Chumfarger is a 10 foot wide low falls about 4 feet tall with
another similar fall of slightly lessor proportions about 50 foot downstream. Between these is a 'bonus' side fall
cascading off the rugged rocky canyon wall, falling about 15 feet into Boen
Gulf. The combined scene is a thing of
beauty, back up near the main trail I meet a couple hikers ‘on their way to
Paradise’ and I fall in behind them.
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in the boulders at the top of Paradise
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I
tend to be a slow hiker especially since I’m constantly stopping for a quick
pic, so my new acquaintances soon leave me in their dust. Down below on Boen Gulf are more falls including
Hargfarger Falls, which is a 10 foot tall cascading fall with a little bit of a
twist. Below Hargfarger less than 100
feet is a nice 5-6 feet tall/wide fall I’ll call ‘pre-paradise falls’ since the
top of Paradise can clearly be seen further downstream.
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Paradise Falls
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As
the trail nears the top of Paradise Falls it veers around to the south
around a big rock jumble, then crosses through a muddy area with a small wet
weather stream. Now I head down a narrow
muddy ledge and fortunately find a rope tied to a tree, this descent is a
little slick, I would turn around here if not for the rope. One spot about half way down is nearly vertical
at the roots of a tree, then a little turn and more diagonal the rest of the
way down assisted by a second rope.
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| on the ropes |
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| temporary fall |
And
here we are in Paradise Grotto at the big pool below cascading 32 foot tall
Paradise Falls, what a gorgeous place!
Paradise Falls fans out as it tumbles down the grotto walls similar to Native
American Falls (see: 143) and Upper Horsetail Falls (see: 86). Today that small stream I crossed up above is
flowing off the rugged grotto wall south of Paradise, this too is just
beautiful, a ‘temporary paradise falls’. North
of Paradise high on the grotto wall are a couple openings possibly small caves,
and looking down Boen Gulf to the west is another fantastic wilderness scene.
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| a small cave? |
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in Paradise
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Exploring
along the creek a little below Paradise Falls in the big rocks I’m looking for
anything resembling the continuation of the trail. Back before the trail was constructed and the
ropes hung, the hearty outdoorsmen who made it to the base of Paradise Falls
climbed down a bluffline break about 200 yards further west then backtracked up
Boen Gulf to the falls. But I don’t see
any clear path downstream, so I’ll make my way back up the rope to the
good trail waiting at the top. |
in scenic Paradise Grotto
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Back
on top my plan is to stay on the ‘main’ Paradise Trail all the way back up to
the parking lot, of course things don’t always go as planned. Losing the trail as I near the confluence of
the stream containing Twisted Knee I find a neat rock overhang resembling a scaled
down version of Hawksbill Crag (see: 161 Whitaker Point) passing under
this overhang I continue upstream but now I’m (unintentionally) following ‘Twisted’
creek. |
bluff below Paradise Falls
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I
only realize the error of my ways when I reach Twisted Knee Falls, okay, I
get to the base of the falls after all.
Over on the east side of the falls a big tree fall is leaning against
the twelve foot vertical creekbank, I use this tree as a ramp to climb back to
the trail at the top. From here with no
more unplanned side-trips it’s clear sailing the rest of the way up to my
waiting truck, along the way crossing paths with many more folks on their way
down to see Paradise Falls. |
| rock overhang |
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Twisted Knee Falls
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Today
was the ‘perfect’ day to see Paradise Falls, the unexpected ‘trail’ was great
making the day even better. I would
describe this as an easy hike, just be careful climbing in and out of Paradise
Grotto, my entire trip including little ‘side excursions’ was just 3.2 miles
with 538 feet of elevation gain. One
less waterfall on the ‘back burner’, I’m so glad I finally took the chance on
Paradise Falls. |
near the parking lot
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Paradise Falls: Statistics Chart 199 Getting to the parking area on SR 21 is
easy in any vehicle, just under a mile south of the old Mossville Church or
about 3.5 miles north of Edward Junction is the big gravel parking area on the
west side of the highway. The unmarked
trail starts at a dirt berm near the north end of the parking lot.
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base map before fair use alterations is property of USGS--licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 U.S. License
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