Clearwater Falls

Coppertone and I ended up at the "wrong" trailhead for this short hike.  There are two campgrounds on opposite sides of the Clearwater River.  We ended up parking at the campground along National Forest Development Road 4785.  This involved a driving down a stretch of gravel road, but it wasn't too bad.  Look for an immediate turnoff from Highway 138 for the shorter route and I think no gravel road.

Though there's a gravel road leading to our trailhead the trail itself follows a short paved segment leading towards the river where a small bridge make the crossing to the opposite bank trivial.  Here there's additional parking and a restroom.  There's also a nice picnic bench in the shade with a good view of the falls.

The falls here don't match what we encountered at Lemolo Falls to be sure.  But what it lacks in drop it makes up for it in intimacy.  You can get right up to the base of the falls.  Even better, there's a side trail to the left of the falls that allows for easy access to the top as well.

A small famil dominated the falls upon our first arrival, but we bided our time by having our lunch and they moved on to their next adventure.  From then on out we had the falls to ourselves.