Stuart Falls Hike

Overview

This is a hike for abandoned trail aficionados only. The Red Blanket Trail in the Sky Lakes Wilderness follows the southern boundary of Crater Lake National Park up Red Blanket Creek, offering views to waterfalls and cascades, and then joins the Stuart Falls Trail, which turns up the north fork to reach Stuart Falls , a pretty veil cascade. The trails were well-constructed for pack trains and had been used in the past to patrol the national park’s boundary to make sure there were no grazing incursions. Then came the 2008 Lonesome Complex fires, which although merely a ground fire along the first half of the route, caused several deep gully washouts. In 2017, there was the Red Blanket Fire, which scorched the southwest section of Crater Lake National Park and the northern part of the Sky Lakes Wilderness, causing crown fire along the second half of the route.

Trail Stats

Duration
4.8 hr
Length
14.3 km
Elevation Gain
456 m
High Point
1661 m
Low Point
—
Grade
—

Photos