The Four Falls Challenge

The National Park Service calls it the Four Falls Challenge. Hike to all four of Whiskeytown’s major waterfalls, snap a photo at each, and you can earn a commemorative bandana at the Visitor Center. But the real reward isn’t a prize – it’s the chance to walk four very different trails, to four very different cascades, each telling its own story.
Together, the Four Falls Challenge is more than a hiking circuit. It’s a sampler of Whiskeytown’s character: Brandy’s graceful tiers, Boulder’s hidden wildness, Crystal’s accessibility, Whiskeytown’s rediscovery. Each waterfall has its own tale, but together they remind us that this is a landscape of water in all its moods-roaring, tumbling, soothing, secret.
All four trailheads lie west of the Visitor Center along Highway 299 and Crystal Creek Road. Because parking is limited at Brandy Creek Falls and Whiskeytown Falls in particular, arrive early or plan a weekday outing. The Park Service recommends tackling the Four Falls Challenge over a couple of days rather than all at once, but ambitious hikers can string them together in a long summer weekend.
Brandy Creek Falls: The Crown Jewel
3 miles round trip with 600 feet gain
If there’s one waterfall everyone agrees on, it’s Brandy Creek Falls. The hike climbs steadily up a shaded canyon, crossing the creek several times before arriving at a broad granite face where the creek fans out in five tiers. In spring, the falls roar; in summer, they soothe. The story here is transformation: one mile from trailhead to torrent, from dry canyon heat to cool mist. Trailhead: Brandy Creek Falls Road (narrow, partly paved).
Boulder Creek Falls: Whiskeytown’s Wildest
2.9 miles round trip, 500 feet gain
For solitude, seek out Boulder Creek Falls. At 138 feet, it’s the tallest of the four, plunging down a narrow slot in a mossy cliff. The approach trail winds through oak and pine forest, then descends into a shaded gorge where three separate drops of the falls combine into one. It feels hidden, even secret-a waterfall the miners must have known but didn’t name. Trailhead: Mill Creek Road (gravel, narrow, not recommended for trailers).
Crystal Creek Falls: The Easy One
0.7 miles round trip
If you only have time for one-and you’ve got kids in tow-Crystal Creek Falls is the pick. This is the only wheelchair-accessible waterfall in Whiskeytown. A paved half-mile trail leads to a picnic area beside the falls, where Crystal Creek drops into a broad pool. Adventurous hikers can scramble upstream to see more cascades, but for most visitors, the beauty here is in its accessibility. Trailhead: Crystal Creek Road, signed day-use parking lot.
Whiskeytown Falls: The Hidden Giant
3.4 miles round trip, 700 feet gain.
For years, Whiskeytown Falls was kept quiet, known only to rangers and locals. At 220 feet, it’s the tallest waterfall in the park, but it wasn’t officially revealed until 2005. The trail climbs steadily through forest, with interpretive signs telling the story of its “rediscovery.” A stone stairway leads to the base of the falls, where water tumbles in a white curtain down a steep granite face. It’s the grand finale of the Four Falls Challenge. Trailhead: Crystal Creek Road, James K. Carr Trail parking.