Mouse Creek Falls

Mouse Creek Falls is a 41-foot cascade dropping through mossy rock ledges into Big Creek in the park's Big Creek area. Plan on the four-mile round trip from Big Creek Picnic Area. This is a walk for people who want a creekside outing and a proper waterfall, not a quick pullout.

Midnight Hole is a separate pool and small cascade about half a mile before Mouse Creek Falls. Leave time for both: the falls are the farther destination, and the pool is an easy stop on the same trail.

Big Creek Trail follows a broad, fairly even old grade. It climbs away from the creek before meeting it again around 1.3 miles in, then continues along the water to the falls. The climb is gradual, so the four-mile distance is the main commitment.

A short side path leads to the falls, where water spills over several tiers of moss-covered rock into the creek. A log bench nearby gives you a place to sit. Don't climb onto the rocks: mist and algae make them slippery. For a photo, frame the upper drops with the lower cascades and some of Big Creek's foreground boulders; that shows how the waterfall feeds into the stream.

The route follows a railroad grade built by Crestmont Lumber in the early 1900s to haul timber. The Civilian Conservation Corps improved it for hikers in the early 1930s. The wide, steady approach still follows that old working route.

Park at Big Creek Picnic Area by the trailhead. The NPS lists seasonal restrooms there; they are at the start of the hike, not beside the falls.