Sight · Rocky Mountain National Park
Spring runoff turns this boulder-and-log waterfall into a roar.
Overview
Calypso Cascades is a stepped waterfall on Cony Creek in Rocky Mountain National Park's Wild Basin, where water threads through boulders and fallen timber beneath conifers. From Wild Basin Ranger Station, it's a 1.8-mile hike each way with about 700 feet of climbing. That makes a 3.6-mile round trip and a real outing, but a good turnaround if you want a waterfall without continuing toward the higher lakes.
Parkwolf’s verdictA waterfall worth walking forMap
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Rocky Mountain Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Rocky Mountain National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Rocky Mountain audio tourRecorded for this place
Wild Basin: A Short Walk or Ouzel Falls“The Wild Basin trailhead is ahead, with a choice of creekside waterfall walks. Lower Copeland Falls is the quick option: about six-tenths of a mile round trip from the summer trailhead.”
Plays as you drive up to Calypso Cascades in the Parkwolf Rocky Mountain Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“…No cell service for majority of the day but had continuous access to the app - the maps, the tour guide as you drive is amazing. Highly recommend purchasing the subscription.”
Guide
The trail passes Lower and Upper Copeland Falls and crosses North St. Vrain Creek over a broad log bridge; beyond that it follows Cony Creek to the cascades. The last stretch is steeper than the approach. Water spreads through several white channels around rocks and fallen trunks, so this looks like a staircase of cascades rather than one tall drop. The same trail continues to Ouzel Falls at 2.7 miles one way from the ranger station if you want a longer hike.
Spring runoff usually gives the falls their strongest flow; late-summer water can be much lower. May visits can still find snow on the trail. Calypso orchids, also called fairy slippers, bloom along Cony Creek in late spring and early summer; the cascades take their name from the flowers.
For a photo, include the boulders and fallen trunks around the water instead of filling the frame with only a white channel. Those logs break the creek into separate drops and show why this is a series of cascades rather than a single plunge.
Wildlife
3,124 sightingsElkMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
1,601 sightingsMooseMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
19 sightingsMountain GoatMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
19 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
30 sightingsGolden EagleMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
270 sightingsBighorn SheepMost seen around 11 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Rocky Mountain. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ChallengingLake of Many Winds Trail15.3 mi · 11 hr · 1.6 mi awayClimb past Wild Basin waterfalls to a high lake beneath Boulder-Grand Pass.
ModerateHidden Falls Trail1.8 mi · 1.5 hr · 1.6 mi awayA short, faint Wild Basin path to a sudden waterfall.
ChallengingBluebird Lake Trail12 mi · 9 hr · 1.6 mi awayA long climb past two waterfalls ends at a high alpine lake.
ModerateOuzel Falls Trail5.4 mi · 3.5 hr · 1.6 mi awayThree waterfalls reward the climb well before the turnaround.
ChallengingLion Lake No. 1 Trail13.6 mi · 8.5 hr · 1.6 mi awayWaterfalls lead to Lion Lake beneath a wall of high peaks.
EasyCopeland Falls Trail1 mi · 45 min · 1.6 mi awayA short creekside walk to Lower and Upper Copeland Falls.
ChallengingThunder Lake Trail13.6 mi · 6 hr · 1.6 mi awayWaterfalls and creek cascades break up the climb to a high lake.
ChallengingOuzel Lake Trail9.8 mi · 6.5 hr · 1.6 mi awayThree waterfalls punctuate the long climb to Ouzel Lake.Sight · 0.6 mi awayOuzel FallsCopeland and Calypso Cascades come before the 40-foot finale.
Sight · 0.7 mi awayFinch LakeA shallow backcountry lake reached by a long Wild Basin hike.
Sight · 1.4 mi awayCopeland FallsTwo small cascades make a quick creekside detour in Wild Basin.
Sight · 1.8 mi awaySandbeach LakeSandy lakeshore, peak views, and a 1,970-foot climb.Sight · 2.2 mi awayOuzel LakeA high lake beyond Wild Basin’s chain of waterfalls.
Sight · 2.3 mi awayPear LakeA high lake two miles beyond Finch, reached on a long hike.
Picnic area · 3.3 mi awayCopeland Lake Picnic AreaA lakeside picnic stop beside the Sandbeach Lake trailhead
Sight · 3.3 mi awayBluebird LakeA long Wild Basin climb to a high lake ringed by peaks.Parkwolf’s Rocky Mountain ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
