Burney Falls

Burney Falls is one of the most spectacular waterfalls that you can visit. This natural wonder features beautifully cascading water surrounded by luscious greenery and astounding rock formations. It is located in McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park in Shasta County, California.

We decided to visit this well known waterfall in August 2020 since not much else was open. Make sure to follow public health guidelines (washing your hands or using hand sanitizer and wearing a mask when you can’t maintain at least 6 feet between other people). If you are feeling sick, it is best to stay home and postpone this trip.

Hike Overview

To the base of the falls:

Hours

Open from sunrise to sunset. We recommend visiting during sunrise since that is when there will be the least amount of people)

Duration

Less than 10 minutes
~ 1 mile round trip

Difficulty

This hike (or should I say walk) is easy. Given that our last outing was to Big Pine Lakes, we were prepared for the worst.
If you do want to get closer to the waterfall, you’ll have to walk down on giant rocks which can be slippery. Otherwise, the walk from the parking lot to the waterfall itself was a nice stroll.

Dog Friendly

No

Admission

There is a $10 fee per car and you pay via this deposit box. Make sure to bring cash if you plan to arrive during sunrise. There was no one at the post so we just put $10 in an envelope and dropped it off

Permit Required

Only for camping. No permit required for day hiking

Parking

There are 2 big parking lots at the entrance of the trail

Restrooms

There are restroom facilities that you can use before or after your hike

Directions

This is about a 9 hour drive from Los Angeles and is located approximately 65 miles north of Redding, CA. You could get a place to stay the night prior or you can also try to get a campground reservation when they re-open.

Burney Falls

Since we didn’t want to stay at a hotel the night before, we decided to drive through the night with Brea’s sister and her family. We left around 8PM from LA/Ventura area and only stopped a few times to get gas and use the restroom.

After our 9 hour drive, we were anxious to see the waterfall and just get out of the car! We arrived a little before 6AM and there was only one other group already there so we basically had the whole falls to ourselves.

Make sure to use the restrooms before you start your hike. They are pretty clean.

There are plenty of signs on the walk so you can’t possibly get lost.

There are also informational signs along the way if you want to read more about the history Burney Falls.

You will already get a glimpse of the cascading waterfall as you’re walking down the slope and towards the rocks. It will literally take your breath away and not just because it was really cold!

Make sure you dress warmly if you visit during sunrise and want to get up close to the water. I wasn’t prepared and had a light jacket on. By the end of our visit here, I was pretty frozen (and soaked haha).

There are a couple good photo spots – all of which require you to get really close to the water and sometimes climb on some rocks.

Who needs to go to Iceland when you have views like this?

We spent about 2 hours here taking photos of each other. After we were all satisfied with our pictures and after we couldn’t take much more of the cold, we decided to leave and grab some breakfast.

There was a nice breakfast place nearby called Clearwater Coffee & Kitchen

They have outdoor seating too but we just ordered take out and ate in the car.

Even though the drive to Burney Falls was so long, it was definitely worth it. We were able to visit during sunrise where it wasn’t crowded. We also made a whole trip out of this! Stay tuned for our later posts on where we went to next!