Hike #13 Shellburg Falls

At the State Fair this year I bought Sullivan's new Central Oregon Cascades book for 2012-2013. So from now on I'll be using this book to plant boxes. Over this last weekend I spent 5 days up in the Mill City and Detroit area to check on some boxes and plant some more.

While checking on my Shellburg box (Hike #6 - #3 in the Sullivan book) I decided to plant another box there because I discovered another trail to get down to the falls that was so much better. The first time I went there I took the longer trail that was mostly on gravel roads from the lower trail head. This time I started at the upper trail head where there is even a fairly new campground. I guess there had been campsites there before but it's been developed a bit more now, although there is still no camp host and appears to be on the honor system. Right next to the campground is the entrance to the trail head and it's a really easy hike on a wonderful forest trail. Expect to drive a lot further on gravel roads but your hike to the falls will be shorter by about half a mile, and definitely more scenic. Near the end there is a lot of climbing down to get to the falls but it's mostly railed stairs. This time of year the falls is pretty small but the hike was worth it anyway with so much forest to awe at on the way.