Rambling Descent-French Creek Falls in Central Colorado

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French Creek Falls spills over a log jam and winds its way through a rocky section on its race down a steep mountainside in the White River National Forest outside of Minturn, Colorado.
French Creek Falls spills over a log jam and winds its way through a rocky section on its race down a steep mountainside in the White River National Forest outside of Minturn, Colorado.

My map with all the waterfalls in Colorado showed there was one just south of the town of Minturn called French Creek Falls. After scouring the internet for any information on how to get to the falls, I finally found mention of it on a forum for four wheelers. There were a few cell phone snaps of the falls that looked promising, so a couple of weeks ago I set off to find it.

The discussion on the forum mentioned that the falls were just off the road after starting up the Jeep trail. A large sign posted at the entrance stated how challenging the road was and what equipment your vehicle should have. After reading that, I decided since it was just up the road that I would park and hike up. The road was very steep and rocky. I could see the stream occasionally through the woods and would stop to see if there was any sign of the falls. After what seemed to be miles (it was really a quarter of a mile!), I heard the rush of the falls just as the road reached a sharp turn. I climbed down to the edge and found that the best shot was going to be from the other side of the stream. The rocks were slick and the water had many deep spots, so rather than get soaked I opted for putting on waders (which of course were back in the Jeep). At least the falls were definitely worth the exercise it took to get a shot of them!

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