Upper 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. Follow the paved trail to the viewpoint for Middle McCloud River Falls and bear left, following the river upstream for about one-third of a mile to the viewpoints at the top of the Upper Falls. Additionally, one can drive half of a mile past the parking area for the Middle Falls, then turn right to the parking area for the Upper Falls and only have to walk about 300 feet to the viewpoints.While just barely taller than the Middle Falls, Upper McCloud River Falls is not nearly as scenic, or visible for that matter. Here the McCloud River squeezes into a narrow gorge cut into the basalt bedrock where it cascade over several small steps which get progressively larger until it finally leaps free and plunges into a huge pool surrounded with amphitheater-like cliffs of columnar basalt. Several different viewing platforms overlook the falls, but none provide an optimal perspective on the falls, the best spot allowing only a side view of the final leap from the gorge (while this doesn't take much away from the falls, it doesn't quite do justice to the falls as a whole).