8   Faery Falls

Faery Falls at low flow
Faery Falls at low flow

 Location: Mt. Shasta City, Shasta Natl. Forest, Siskiyou County
Height: 41 ft.
Access:   car   hike   dog  
Distance: 3.0 miles (RT) (hike)
Elevation: 3200 ft.
Season: Mar-Jul
Difficulty: easy hike
Lat/Long:41.26093, -122.33489
Directions:Take Hwy #5 to Mt. Shasta City, 60 miles north of Redding. Take the Lake St. exit (the 2nd exit, for the city center). Turn west on Lake St. and drive 0.4 miles to Old Stage Rd. Turn left (south) and drive 0.2 miles. Take the right fork (W A Barr Rd.), and drive 2.4 miles to Castle Lake Rd. Turn left for 0.1 miles, then turn left again onto Ney Springs Rd. Drive 2.0 miles to Faery Falls (stay right all junctions). The last half-mile or so is very rough and a high clearance vehicle is needed. Just drive as far as possible, and walk the rest of the way. If you prefer to hike to Faery Falls, the unmarked trailhead is located on the right, 0.3 miles off Ney Springs Rd. (after turning from Castle Lake Rd.).   Click to view map of Faery Falls hike

Faery Falls (or Fairy Falls) is an unknown beauty located near Lake Siskiyou just outside Mt. Shasta City. In the spring, Ney Springs Creek flows strong and forms this lovely 41 ft. tall fan type waterfall. Later in the summer, the creek flows to mostly a trickle, and the falls will not be too impressive.

Getting to Faery Falls is actually very easy. You can take a fairly easy 3 mile (RT) hike, or you can drive most of the way to it on Ney Springs Rd. The last half-mile or so of this road gets very rough, and a high clearance vehicle is required. But if it gets too rough, just park along the road and walk the rest of the distance to the falls.

The biggest problem you’ll have at Faery Falls in the spring is finding a dry spot to sit (or take photographs). There is so much spray at the base of the falls in the spring, you will get wet for sure. I had much trouble finding a dry enough spot to set up my tripod to take a photo. But I must say, we were very impressed with how lovely this waterfall is.

Zoom out on map to see all nearby waterfalls:

Other waterfalls nearby:
Shasta Springs 3.78 miles
Mossbrae Falls 3.88 miles
Hedge Creek Falls 3.90 miles
Root Creek Falls 6.01 miles
Wagon Creek Falls 6.56 miles
Sweetbriar Falls 9.16 miles
Mud Creek Canyon Falls 12.46 miles
Squaw Valley Creek Falls 13.07 miles
Lower McCloud Falls 16.52 miles
Middle McCloud Falls 17.36 miles
Upper McCloud Falls 17.36 miles
East Boulder Lake Falls 23.95 miles

Shasta Cascade Waterfalls Home Page