Crater Lake National Park: Plaikni Falls (Blog Hike #873)

Trail: Plaikni Falls Trail
Hike Location: Crater Lake National Park
Geographic Location: southeast of Crater Lake, OR (42.90476, -122.07049)
Length: 2 miles
Difficulty: 3/10 (Easy/Moderate)
Date Hiked: July 2021
Overview: A mostly gradual out-and-back to cascading Plaikni Falls.
Park Information: https://www.nps.gov/crla/index.htm
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=881165
Photo Highlight:

Hike Video: 

Directions to the trailhead: From Crater Lake National Park's south entrance, drive the entrance road north 4 miles to East Rim Drive and turn right on East Rim Dr.  Take East Rim Dr. 8.2 miles to Pinnacles Road and turn sharply right on Pinnacles Rd.  The roadside parking area for the Plaikni Falls Trail is located 1.1 miles ahead on the left.  Park here.

The hike: For my general comments on Crater Lake National Park, see my hike on the park's Discovery Point Trail.  For my final hike in Crater Lake National Park, I chose to hike the short and fairly easy trail to Plaikni Falls.  Plaikni Falls is not as impressive as other famous Oregon waterfalls such as Multnomah Falls or Salt Creek Falls, and there are no Crater Lake views on this hike.  Nevertheless, Plaikni Falls makes a nice side trip after you have seen Crater Lake, and I enjoyed my hike here on a warm Wednesday afternoon.

Trailhead: Plaikni Falls Trail

            From the signed roadside trailhead, the single-track dirt trail heads north as it descends gradually into classic Oregon pine forest.  Some sources claim that this trail is ADA-accessible, but the trail surface seems too soft and some of the grades at the end seem too steep for this designation.  A couple of wooden benches provide rest for the weary even though the grades at the start of the trail are very gradual.

A bench beside the trail

            After crossing a small creek and climbing gradually, the trail curves sharply right at 0.5 miles.  A large pine tree stands in the middle of the trail at this curve.  Now the trail heads east with some sunny boulder fields and rock outcrops above you to the left.

Rock outcrop above the trail

            At 0.8 miles, Sand Creek comes into view downhill to the right as the trail curves left and begins climbing more steeply.  The last segment of trail is sunny and somewhat narrow, but water from Sand Creek allows large quantities of wildflowers to grow here.  An interpretive guide for this park's Castle Crest Trail (described elsewhere in this trail journal) will help you identify these wildflowers.

Plaikni Falls

            1 mile into the hike, you reach the observation platform for Plaikni Falls, which cascades above you.  Interestingly, although Crater Lake lies above this waterfall to the north, Sand Creek is snowmelt fed rather than lake fed.  Thus, you want to come here early in the summer to see the waterfall at its seasonal peak.  The waterfall had plenty of water volume when I came here in mid-July, and the rock outcrops on either side make for a stark setting.  The trail ends at the waterfall, so your only option is to retrace your steps 1 mile back to the parking lot to complete your hike.