Fish Creek Falls

Fish Creek Falls
Fish Creek Falls, June 2005
Location	Routt County, Colorado, U.S.
Coordinates	40.4816442°N 106.7711591°W / 40.4816442; -106.7711591
Total height	283 feet (86 m)
Watercourse	Fish Creek

Fish Creek Falls is a waterfall located about 5 miles to the east of Steamboat Springs, Colorado in Routt National Forest. Fish Creek runs from several small lakes in the Rabbit Ears Range of Colorado. In the summertime, the road to Fish Creek Falls becomes often clogged in mid-afternoon with tourists wanting to see the 280-foot-tall (85 m) waterfall. It is possible to hike all the way to the terminus of the waterfall through giant boulders and rushing water. There are two hiking trails from the parking lot at the end of Fish Creek Fall Road. One is 1/4 of a mile (400 m) and goes through several Aspen groves with the occasional Subalpine Fir. It ends at a viewing station where the entirety of the falls can be seen. The other trail goes straight down into the U-Shaped valley formed by glaciers. As it nears the bottom of the valley, one can hear the rushing sound of water over the fall and see beautiful Fish Creek. The trail continues on to Upper Fish Creek Falls and then on to the Wyoming Trail, a long trail running the northwestern mountains of Colorado to Wyoming. The falls provide a great place for ice climbing in the winter when 300+ inches of snow (7.6 m) fall on the mountains east of Steamboat Springs.