Crystal Creek Falls is a truly magical place to visit. It’s a little off the beaten path, a little out of the way, but it is completely and totally worth the adventure. Best part – its dog friendly!! Yay!! That’s honestly what makes it that much better for me because finding a good, safe place to let your fur babies swim is a challenge. The only down side is that we don’t live close enough to go on a regular basis however whenever we make our way up north we make an effort to stop every time.

Maps does a great job directing you to the correct location of the falls but you will have to walk from the parking lot to the water. There are bathrooms in the parking lot but I can’t speak on if they’re decent or not. They look like average park bathrooms on the exterior.

The path from the parking lot is maintained, clearly marked, wide and paved at least most of the way.

Word of Caution: The path gets VERY hot on extreme heat days. When we took Sophia the road got way too hot for her. We had to walk on the side of the road in the dirt to get her back to the car. It was either that or pick her up and carry her 80 pound self back to the car.

The path looks like it goes to dirt about halfway through however it seems to be just dirt covering the road and still paved.

You’ll wind through the beautiful landscape for maybe 1/4 mile – I’m no distance expert so don’t quote me on that – but it’s not far at all.

As you make it closer to the falls you will start to hear the water flowing and know you’re almost there!

BBQs are on the flat ground above the falls along with trash cans. Once there, you’ll see the guard rail just up ahead and as you peak over the edge you’ll see the falls! The trail down to the water is off to the left of the guard rail.

The path down to the falls is dirt and easy to spot. It is a little on the steeper side but not awful by any means. Completely doable. Below is an image of Teddy sleeping on the rocks not wanting anything to do with the water however you can see the trail down to the falls just up the rocks and between those trees on the right. The path leads you to those rocks up above Teddy but there are spots you can easily climb down closer to the trail itself.

Beware of the rocks because they can get very slippery when wet!

There is a sandy patch on the left hand side that I’ve seen people set up lawn chairs in and I will need to do that one of these days. One group of people climbed up to the top of the falls however I would not recommend it. Others have climbed the slanted rocks on the left side of the falls and slid down which I would like to try one of these days. That does seem like a hoot!

The water is reasonably shallow throughout most of the falls. There are a few rocks in the middle that help divide the depths and give a nice spot to sit and relax. Over at the base of the falls it is deeper however I was able to stand pretty darn close to it and I am roughly 5’3.

If the main section of the falls is too crowded or you’d like to continue adventuring the water continues down creating more pools to splash and enjoy. We didn’t venture down that way but I would definitely like to do that one of these next visits. The images above are showing the views looking away from the falls showing where the water continues to flow.

Sophia is a complete and total water dog. She absolutely loves everything water and is fearless – jumping, diving, going under water to grab rocks, and swimming to her heart’s content. Teddy on the other hand does not like water at all. He was thoroughly offended we took him to the water and preferred to lay on the rocks on my backpack instead of swim.

There are even some fish in the water, not huge, definitely not something you could fish for but fun to look for!

Take the adventure and make the trip to Crystal Creek Falls – you will absolutely love it!