Route Editor
Route Scout
 Author Full Detail Guide Overview: Overlooking peaks high above and the town of Ouray 2300ft below, hike up to 10k feet to end at the historic Chief Ouray Mine- Bunkhouse and Machinery Building with an opportunity to cross upper Cascade Creek and also view upper Cascade Falls along this hiking route; Check out the Official Route and Triplogs. Leave No Trace and +Add a Triplog after your hike to support this local community. 2011-08-20 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WARNING! Hiking and outdoor related sports can be dangerous. Be responsible and prepare for the trip. Study the area you are entering and plan accordingly. Dress for the current and unexpected weather changes. Take plenty of water. Never go alone. Make an itinerary with your plan(s), route(s), destination(s) and expected return time. Give your itinerary to trusted family and/or friends.
Most recent Triplog Reviews
Upper Cascade Falls Trail #213
We arrived in Ouray around lunch time and got settled in. From there we made our way over to the Amphitheater Campground and went for a relatively short hike making a clockwise loop around the campground and utilizing the Upper Cascade Trail. There were lots of patches of snow and ice and they made things relatively difficult. A simple traction device would have made a big difference. We wanted to hike up to the Chief Ouray Mine but time and snow/ice prevented this. Next time!
2015-02-14 John9L
Upper Cascade Falls Trail #213
With 3 BIG waterfall rappels from 200-300ft, this canyon is easily the big daddy of the Ouray Valley! 
We had an opportunity to do this sweet canyon and we of course jumped all over it. The hike up was again a bit of a struggle up at elevation and loaded down with canyon gear, but I was glad when the climbing was over and we started to gear up. 
The rock is this canyon was especially chossy making for loads of tough down climbing. The canyon really got amazing when we hit the first 200ft waterfall. A couple more shorter rappels and we hit the even sweeter 2nd 200ft waterfall. 
It was pretty cool to see Ouray down off in the distance and realize that the HUGE drop is not too far off... A few more sweet rappels and we reached the top of the 300ft Cascade Falls. 
I actually have a few 300ft rappels under my belt so I wasn't that nervous yet this was the first one that was a waterfall. 
Such an amazing way to finish off such a superb canyon! Unfortunately we coreshot the 300ft rope near near the mid-mark on a sharp ledge, but sounds like that's quite common... 
We had an opportunity to do this sweet canyon and we of course jumped all over it. The hike up was again a bit of a struggle up at elevation and loaded down with canyon gear, but I was glad when the climbing was over and we started to gear up. The rock is this canyon was especially chossy making for loads of tough down climbing. The canyon really got amazing when we hit the first 200ft waterfall. A couple more shorter rappels and we hit the even sweeter 2nd 200ft waterfall. It was pretty cool to see Ouray down off in the distance and realize that the HUGE drop is not too far off... A few more sweet rappels and we reached the top of the 300ft Cascade Falls. I actually have a few 300ft rappels under my belt so I wasn't that nervous yet this was the first one that was a waterfall. Such an amazing way to finish off such a superb canyon! Unfortunately we coreshot the 300ft rope near near the mid-mark on a sharp ledge, but sounds like that's quite common... 2011-08-15 Vaporman
Upper Cascade Falls Trail #213
This ~5.0 mile round trip hike from 8.4k' to 10k' at the upper Cascade Falls and the historic Chief Ouray Mine Bunkhouse and Machinery Building offered a great introduction to Ouray silver and gold mining history with very scenic high mountain and distant views surrounding Ouray.
This was my first full hiking day of four in the Ouray area, the "Switzerland of our USA"
This was my first full hiking day of four in the Ouray area, the "Switzerland of our USA"
2007-07-14 Grasshopper
