Mill Creek Falls

Mill Creek Falls in Lassen Park.

This weekend was the “Fee Free” weekend at the local national parks. We are always looking for ways to save a little so we decided it was a good time to go up to Lassen Park for a hike. Also the weather was beautiful so what more could we ask for?
Mill Creek Falls trail is considered a “moderate” trail. We rate it a little more difficult than that. The total elevation change is about 300 feet, but the trail goes up and down over the whole length of it so the actual climbing is probably much more.
The falls are very nice this time of year. There is enough snow melt to keep the water levels up to a point to produce considerable water flow. Two streams come together to form the falls: East Sulphur Creek and Bumpass Creek. We were surprised to find out that Mill Creek Falls is not really on Mill Creek. Mill Creek actually begins downstream where East Sulphur Creek meets West Sulphur Creek.
The trail starts at the north end of the campground just inside the park on the Highway 89 side. There was a little confusion for us on finding the trail. There is a nice description of the trail on a post right next to a very substantial looking asphalt path. We found out that is the path to the campsite, not the falls. The falls trail is a rather narrow dirt track that takes off downhill to the left of the signpost.
The walk to the falls goes through nice forest terrain. Depending on the description, the trail is either 4.7 or 3.6 miles long round trip or somewhere in between. There are some open areas covered with wildflowers, as well as a lot of mature forest.
From the trail we saw a young deer fawn. It walked off as we approached but we got a good picture. There were also numbers of pine tree seedlings just coming up from the ground. Many seeds were still stuck to the top needles of the seedlings.
We continued on the trail up and down until it comes out to an overlook of the falls. The falls are 69 feet high, the tallest in Lassen Park. The water falls into a deep ravine. From the overlook it certainly seems to be a lot more that 69 feet deep!
For those that are interested, there is an additional spur of the trail that runs out to the top of the falls. It is said to be a great place to rest on the boulders and have lunch, but just a little farther than we wanted to go at the time.
When we got back from out hike, we checked out the new visitor center and amphitheater. The visitor center is a large building which houses a café, gift shop and display areas.
Our day was enjoyable and we would recommend the falls as a “must see.” Just be in good shape before you go!