California Photo Scout

Whiskeytown Falls

Whiskeytown Fall is a beautiful cascade waterfall in the Whiskeytown NRA Park. Rangers discovered the waterfall in 2004, which has quickly become one of the most popular waterfall hikes in the area.

How to get there

Download the track log of my hike

Whiskeytown Falls Map

Starting at the Whiskeytown visitor center, drive about 8 miles west on Highway 299 to Crystal Creek Road (turnoff in Google Street View). Drive 3.8 miles until you reach the Mill Creek and Whiskeytown Falls Trailhead. Since the size of the parking lot is limited, many people choose to park along the road during busy weekends.

The trail to Whiskeytown Falls is steep and slippery when it is raining. It follows an old logging road with plenty of shade.

Whiskeytown Falls Profile (250m elevation scale)

From the visitor center, you can get a printed trail guide or you can download it directly.

GPS position

Waterfall: N40 37.591 W122 40.160

Parking: N40 38.305 W122 40.547

How to photograph Whiskeytown Falls

Whiskeytown Falls Rocks

The options to photograph the falls are limited, but with a bit of ingenuity and drive you will certainly find some unique angles of your own. Set up your tripod in the water, take off your shoes and jump in. Set up the tripod in the runoff to get some of the rapids in your shot. Try shooting sideways from the stairs or from the bench through the foliage.

Vary your point of view. Set up the tripod near the ground or just above the water or look for an elevated position. Get yourself dirty and wet, but do whatever you can to get a better shot than the next guy. In this day and age it takes more to distinguish yourself from your peers. Many great photographers have visited Whiskeytown Falls before you and many great photographers will come here after you have left.

Walk up the stairs besides the falls to see the upper sections of the cascade, which are beautiful in their own right.

Waterfall Photography

Use a tripod and neutral density filters and/or a circular polarizing filter to slow down your exposure. Set your camera to its lowest ISO setting and use a small aperture (f/16 or smaller) to get your exposure time above 1/4s. This will make the water look smooth and silky.

The dynamic range of the bright water, sunny spots and surrounding shade can easily overwhelm your camera’s capturing capability. Use exposure bracketing and combine the photographs on your computer to extend your dynamic range accordingly. Since you need to underexpose your shot for the water, make sure your exposure time is still long enough. This is extremely difficult during the day and much easier at dawn.

Shoot RAW! I reduced exposure to recover detail in the water and increased the shadow fill light in Adobe Camera RAW without having to work with HDR.

Best Time of the Day and Best Season

We took the hike during the late afternoon, when fewer sunrays penetrate the forest canopy. This allowed for longer exposures and helped me to get the effect on the water I wanted. Late spring will bring more water and fall will add color to the foliage, but the hike should be good as long as there is no snow or rain.

Time required

The hike takes about 2 hours – 3 hours round trip (3.4 miles steep uphill). It takes about 30 minutes to one hour to photograph every possible angle at the falls.

Equipment

• Wide-angle lens
• CP filter
• ND filter
• Tripod and Cable Release
• Hiking Shoes
• Mosquito repellant
• Water
• Lens Cleaning Cloth to wipe off the water drops
• GPS
• Headlamp or Flashlight for the return trip after shooting at dawn

Fees

The entrance fee to the entire Whiskeytown recreational lake site is $5. If you possess a National Park Pass you do not need to pay a fee, but you need to display the pass in your vehicle while you are gone.

Difficulty Getting There

The trail is very steep. I made the mistake of carrying my entire assortment of lenses which was a bit painful. You only need a wide-angle and maybe a normal lens, but you can leave your telephoto equipment in your car.

Close Locations

• Whiskeytown Lake
• Brandy Creek Falls
• Boulder Creek Falls
• Shasta State Historic Park
• Lake Shasta
• Shasta Dam
• Burney Falls
• Trinity Alps
• Lassen Volcanic NP: Cinder Cone

Useful Resources

Trail Guide

Whiskeytown NRA

Whiskeytown Waterfall Description

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