If you’re looking for a beautiful, less crowded trail in Lassen Volcanic National Park, the Mill Creek Falls trail is the one. This wonderful trail is 4 miles round trip. Along the trail, you’ll be treated to tons of wildflowers, swimming holes, and, of course, Mill Creek Falls. Mill Creek Falls is the highest waterfall in Lassen Volcanic National Park, at 75 feet. This trail is especially spectacular during the wildflower season.
Mill Creek Falls Trailhead:
Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center
21820 Lassen Peak Hwy, Mineral, CA 96063
40.437693, -121.532983
The Visitor Center has a big, paved lot.
Lassen Volcanic National Park charges an entrance fee. The fee varies depending on the vehicle used to enter the park (car, motorcycle, bike, on foot, or on horseback). For more information, click here. If you have an America the Beautiful Pass or an annual pass, you can use either of those instead.
3.8 mile R.T.
900 ft
Moderate
2.5 – 3 hours
May to October. This trail is especially beautiful when the wildflowers are blooming, usually around the end of May through June.
There are restrooms inside the Visitor Center
Pets are not allowed on the trail!
If you’re planning to do this hike in the winter, it is not a good idea. Due to hazards created by the Dixie Fire and difficulty navigating with snow on the ground, this trail is not advised in the winter. Sections of the trail cross a steep slope above Mill Creek and are not ideal for oversnow travel.
Mill Creek Falls trailhead is located behind the amphitheater at the Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center inside Lassen Volcanic National Park. The visitor center is near the park’s Southwest Entrance. You can use the address above to map your way there. To get to the trailhead, head toward the amphitheater next to the Visitor Center. There is a paved path that runs behind the amphitheater with a short set of stairs leading down to the trailhead.
Once leaving the paved path, the Mill Creek Falls trail weaves through the burnt trees before descending toward West Sulfur Creek. Here, we crossed over a wooden bridge to the other side of the creek. As soon as we crossed over the other side of the wooden bridge, the whole hillside was glowing with these beautiful yellow flowers. These flowers looked like they were either Arrowleaf Balsamroot or Mule Ears. The sea of flowers went on for quite a distance. We couldn’t help but stop and take tons of photos. It was interesting to see the blanket of flowers growing beneath the burnt, blackened forest. It was as if Mother Nature was claiming her territory back.
Along the way, the Mill Creek Falls trail doesn’t have any super steep sections. This trail didn’t feel as steep as the Kings Creek Falls. Eventually, the flowers gave way to more burnt forest and a small creek crossing. After the small creek crossing, the Mill Creek Falls trail soon reached a narrow section. This narrow section is mostly flat with small inclines and declines. The trail at this section is quite narrow, with a drop-off on the right-hand side. The drop-off is not steep, but it can feel a bit sketchy if you don’t like heights. There are also slippery rocks and pine needles, so make sure to watch where you’re going.
After the narrow section, we followed Mill Creek Falls downhill for a while before reaching the viewing platform looking over Mill Creek Falls. From the platform, you can look down to see Mill Creek Falls tumbling 75ft into East Sulfur Creek. Even though it was as beautiful as Rainbow Falls in Mammoth Lakes, it was still pretty impressive. Depending on when you go, the flow can be powerful. We went at the beginning of June, and the water flow was still decent. Although you cannot go to the bottom of the waterfalls, you can follow the Mill Creek Falls trail to get right on top of it. And that was what we did.
It was a short, downhill hike to a wooden bridge that sat right above one of the sources of the Mill Creek Falls. After crossing this bridge, we climbed up a short rocky staircase to reach another wooden bridge. At this second bridge, there are small pools of water and shade. This is the end of Mill Creek Falls. If you want to hike further, you can do the Crumbaugh Lake trail. This trail connects all the way to Kings Creek Picnic Area. The pools of water here are clear and blue. They are also quite cold. However, the temperature was perfect for us to dip our feet after a hot hike. So we spent a long time here eating our lunch and enjoying a cold soak. 10/10 would do this again!
If you’re looking for more things to do in Lassen Volcanic National Park, check out Paradise Meadow Trail and Kings Creek Falls. If you love waterfalls, check out the Trail of Ten Falls in Oregon. Another one of our favorites is the Shoshone Falls in Idaho, which you have to kayak to get to. Shoshone Falls is known as the Niagara Falls of the West. Now, even though it is touristy, you NEED to visit Niagara Falls at least once in your life. It is the mother of all waterfalls!!
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These are the gear that we personally use and find helpful for this particular adventure. Don’t forget to check out our Recommended Gear section as well.
Our favorite biodegradable, eco-friendly, reef-safe sunscreen!
This is Vy's favorite hiking bag! It has tons of room for snacks and water!
It's always good to bring a GPS tracker with you. We use the Garmin inReach.
This jacket is packable into a super small and light little ball. Perfect for when you just need a little…
This jacket is packable into a super small and light little ball. Perfect for when you just need a little…
Our favorite hiking/travel jacket. It's warm and packable, perfect to bring on a hike or a road trip.
Our favorite hiking/travel jacket. It's warm and packable, perfect to bring on a hike or a road trip.
If you tend to have foot blisters on hikes, get this! We use this all the time.
These hiking poles are sturdy, and great to help keep your balance on short or longer hikes
Compact GoPro pole that extends to 25", perfect to bring on your adventure.
This is our go-to camera for all of our adventures. It comes with us everywhere!
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Hi! We are Dustin & Vy, the proud creators of Live That Adventure. We created this website because we wanted to inspire others to live their lives to the fullest. On here, you’ll find everything from hiking, canyoneering, kayaking, and snorkeling to adventure and travel tips, gear reviews, and bucket list items such as bungee jumping or wing walking. We’ll show you the ropes so you can do them too!
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