Sweet Creek Falls Trailhead — Attraction in Florence

Young people can walk faster or run. An older man with walking sticks lost his balance and had to be helped to stand up. One trailhead was closed to put in a new bridge so you could not walk through. Park rangers were present to discuss the flora and fauna with pictures and examples of beaver prints, water quality, etc set up on a table along the 3/4 mile path. People were swimming in the small waterfall area or climbing amongst the rocks. A family brought lunch in their back packs. The path is filled with exposed roots and rocks and poison oak is abundant. It was a perfect day to forest bathe as it was in the 80s though much cooler amongst the lovely trees. I did not take the higher steeper narrow. trail leading above the falls. Next time I will bring a walking stick. There is a porta potty at the small 10-car parking lot and as we were leaving cars were parked along the one-lane road. We hiked at the second entrance. The first entrance was blocked and a ranger was parked to let us know about the second entrance. The Sweet Creek Road is two lanes and narrows to one lane after the first park entrance.The road is paved. It was a lively day and...

Wow! What a great place. Not sure what I was expecting, but not this. The Homestead parking area was almost full when we arrived on a Saturday at 12:30. There is a (stinky) vault toilet facility available. The trail wanders through tall Douglas-fir, Alder and Big Leaf maple which provide good shade. All the while listening to the rushing water from Sweet Creek. Since there has been no rain recently, we expected the falls to be pretty dry but they weren’t. I imagine they are even more striking in the spring. There is plenty of access to the water, and we wished we had worn bathing suits. We did find some cool pools to dip our toes in though. We saw several people walking through the creek rather than on the trail, and it looked like fun. The trail is pretty well maintained although there are roots and rocks to trip you. It was more crowded as late afternoon approached. Lots of families with water toys and such. Would love to come back and visit on a weekday when it is quieter. ...

Beautiful! This is one place where the trail up the creek is more beautiful than the falls itself! Water was down since it was late July but it was an easy 1 mile hike in/out in a gorgeous setting.

We hiked in from the Homestead Trailhead to the Upper Viewing area at Sweet Creek Falls. Within the first 1/4 mile a portion of the path was washed out but we scrambled around it. Judging from the building materials on site, it looks like the trail fix should be completed later this summer. Online it says the repairs will be done in late July but don’t believe it.

We later learned we could have continued on to Beaver Falls so we noted that for the next time. This place is probably best visited in the spring or fall after a weeks worth of rain plus another week of dry weather to reduce the trail mud. The 10 mile road trip in from Hwy 126 is paved to the trailhead with a few curves and...