Middle McCloud River Falls

Follow Highway 89 for just under 14 1/2 miles east from its junction with Interstate 5 near the city of Mount Shasta to the large signed parking area for McCloud Falls. A paved trail leads less than 200 feet to a viewpoint along the rim of the canyon with the falls over 100 feet below. A steep trail then leads down to the base of the falls in about a quarter of a mile. It's also possible to hike upstream from Lower McCloud River Falls to the base of the Middle Falls.The middle falls of the McCloud River is both the largest and most impressive of the trio. Though not quite as tall as the upper falls, the 44-foot drop stretches for 120 feet in width, making this one of the wider waterfalls in California. During the spring the river will swell in volume to cover the entire cliff face, creating a deafening curtain of whitewater, but during the later months of the summer the reduced size of the McCloud will cause the falls to split into two smaller curtains of water falling in tandem.