James K. Carr Trail to Whiskeytown Falls
in California
The age of discovery continues into the present at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area... While studying aerial photographs of the park in 2004, long-time park natural resource manager Russ Weatherbee discovered a waterfall. Russ then visited the site and may have even pinched himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming the vision of this 220-foot-tall, three-part waterfall.
Russ had discovered, or perhaps rediscovered, the tallest waterfall in the park. After the story of the waterfall's discovery got out, it came to light that for over 40 years the falls was known about by a few local residents. For a variety of reasons, these specific individuals decided not to share the falls' existence with others.
Two summers of trail construction work ensued and park staff opened the trail to Whiskeytown Falls for others to see and enjoy. The trail to the falls is named in honor of James K. Carr, one of Redding's native sons and an instrumental figure in the establishment of what is officially known as Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area.
- States
- California
- Trail type
- National Recreation Area trail
- Centroid nearest city
- Sacramento, CA · 155 mi · ~4 hr drive
- Centroid coords
- 40.6383°, -122.6761°
About Whiskeytown National Recreation Area
This trail is inside Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, a national recreation area managed by the U.S. National Park Service. Conditions, road status, trail closures, and reservation requirements are published on the park's NPS page — check it before driving in, especially in winter or during major weather events.
Entrance fee: $15 per vehicle (verify current rate on the park page). An America the Beautiful annual pass ($80) covers entrance to all NPS units.
Official NPS trail page: https://www.nps.gov/places/james-k-carr-trail-to-whiskeytown-falls.htm
Park homepage: https://www.nps.gov/whis/index.htm
Plan your hike
Maps + permits: long-distance trails like this often require permits for through-hiking, backcountry camping, or specific sections (especially in National Parks). Check with the maintaining organisation listed above and the relevant land manager before booking travel.
Water + supplies: water sources vary seasonally on most U.S. trails. Carry a filter and consult current trail-condition reports — through-hiker journals (PCT-L, AT Reddit, etc.) and the maintaining organisation publish regular updates.
When to go: hiking seasons vary widely with elevation, latitude, and snowpack. Through-hikers traditionally start the AT in March-April (Springer northbound) and the PCT in late April (Campo northbound). High-elevation western trails (CDT, JMT, Wonderland) generally aren't passable until July.
If you've hiked James K. Carr Trail to Whiskeytown Falls and have current notes (water sources, trail closures, permit changes), tell us at /contact — we update pages as we learn.
Other trails within 50 miles
Sources
Trail data on this page is compiled from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), the maintaining organisation's public-facing materials, and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA where excerpts are quoted). Distance, terminus, and descriptive text for nationally-designated trails are hand-curated from federal land-manager websites and trail-association sources. We do not modify the underlying data; this page presents what is already publicly recorded. To suggest corrections, see our methodology page.