GCGA3J Traditional Cache Hidden Falls "overlook"
Type: Traditional | Size: Regular Regular | Difficulty: 2.5 out of 5 | Terrain: 4.5 out of 5
By: Team Jasks @ | Hide Date: 06/17/2003 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N38° 55.090 W104° 54.545 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0
No Dogs  Not Recommended for kids  Difficult climbing  May require wading  Cliff / falling rocks  Dangerous area  Camping available  Needs maintenance  Medium hike (1km-10km) 
New location, not far from the old site - the new name says it all..
Need a close place to escape for a few hours. This cache will lead you past 2 waterfalls, punch bowls, to a waterfall that traverses down smooth rocks while disappearing into the overgrown forest.

Sound interested?

Well here are some other considerations:

  • The Hike requires major bouldering at one section, better have some skills at spotting "holds"
  • Plan to get your feet wet after crossing the stream countless times
  • You will climb up about 1500 feet in elevation
  • The trail while in good shape, can be lost in the rock fields
  • Cache is just under 6 miles Round Trip
Still interested?

Good, this is a great hike, in fact while I was hiking I never saw another person on the trail You will pass a lot of small falls on your way to the cache.

How to start (recommended):

  • You will need to register at Glen Erie (a waver in case you fall or something)
  • Glen Erie will not allow hikers onto the property after 3:30pm - if you are on before this your golden to take your time
  • Consider Royal Hike before you head up this hike.. hint, hint, hint
  • It is possible to access this from Palmer reservoir (Eagle Lake Boys camp), however you may require permission from Glen Erie
Cache is a log cache and is a PVC container.
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 Hints

hidden with the usual rock stack covering it

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Driving Directions

 Logs

11 Logs: Found it 8  Write note 2  Needs Maintenance 1  

Found it 04/28/2019 By CVA64
Stats from today: 9.20+ mi RT, 6 hrs 7 min, 2,000' elevation loss and gain from up top at CCC parking

Great day to be outside. Came in from west of here after following the trail down. That's the only real way now that access is closed on Glen Eyrie. You'll see the power of the Waldo Fire and the effects on the hike. It's not the same and never will be. It's sad. The trail is there but gets faint in spots. It's not like what Ernie showed from 2014. Lots of debris and destruction. You'll see lots of scat and some fish in the creek maybe. The falls are beautiful but not the same as I've seen.

Cache is good for another few years before being found again. Had to use ingenuity to get the pipe cap off but did to sign. Thanks for this cache in the canyon.

Thanks Ernie66 & Estes01 for checking on this one a while back.

Write note 11/01/2014 By ernie66
I returned today with estes01. The fire and floods have changed the canyon, but it's still one of the areas great places.

The "trail"

Hidden Falls

Found it 11/01/2014 By estes01
I am familiar with the trail off Rampart Range Road that leads down to Queens Canyon and Camp Creek as this is the route WingsAndTales and I took to do "A Royal Hike" and "Queens Canyon" in September 2010. In the case of "Hidden Falls 'Overlook'" you go left, rather than right, when you reach the creek. I remember it being a steep trail with switchbacks. Now the switchbacks are gone and the trail is a very deep gulley. It goes straight down and is covered with large, loose rocks, tree fall and everything is burnt. This is not an easy hike. Also, the Glen Eyrie access option is no longer available. Not sure why as their liability only covers a small area that was not damaged from the fire or floods. Ernie66 and I parked at the large pull-off area that used to be very close to the trailhead and got a $75 parking ticket. The trailhead is at N38 54.214 W104 54.559. The legal parking is at N 38 54.082 W 104 54.747, about .18 miles up the road. Once you reach the creek and make your left, it doesn't get any easier. There really is no trail anymore and you'll find yourself crossing the creek many times. It's an adventure, that's for sure. But the cache is in excellent condition and surprisingly made it through the fire. I'm posting a photo because we just couldn't believe it survived. Still, a beautiful spot for a cache.
IMG_1799

Needs Maintenance 07/02/2012 By jjasks
Need to check if cache is still there after the fire

Found it 02/19/2012 By hartsdale
I dropped down in the canyon from Rampart Range on a great morning for a hike!
There was some snow and ice to navigate through so the descent was the slowest part of the trip.
If you look at some of the larger pine trees you will see where a mountain lion has crawled up to look out or perch!!
I saw this kind of "sign" on 10 or more trees!
I've been wanting to get to this cache for sometime, and the Jeep TB gave me alittle more motivation.
The coords seem very good for an area like this and the cache is in fine shape.

I swapped Jeep TBs ( red for red )

Thanks for a fun cache in a great area to hike to!

HD

Above the Falls #1

Above the Falls #2
Below the falls #1
Below the falls #2

Found it 07/11/2011 By ayersfam
We came down from RRR on the Newhart Trail to the cache, then went down to the Punch Bowls and back up. This was my 700th cache so I wanted it to be a memorable one. This cache was perfect. This was one of the most beautiful hikes I have ever done. Left a Jeep TB and another TB that wanted to be a part of a milestone. TFTC

Found it 03/16/2011 By WingsAndTales
I dropped into the canyon from Rampart Range Rd. If you are interested in this route, the trail starts at N38 54.214 W104 54.559 and there is parking around the corner(about 50 yds north). Someone has been working on the trail down to the canyon recently and numerous logs that were across the trail have been cleared. It was about 2 miles one way to the cache. I continued another mile and a half up the trail to get Hiking Through also. I found this one quickly but it was a little bit lucky since my GPS said I was still 40-45 feet from the cache. Reading the description and geo-sense will help more than your GPS once you are in the area. I traded trackables. As I was coming back down the trail, the high overcast finally cleared and I was able to get some pictures. TFTC

Hidden Falls from above

Perfectly shaped tree
Falls from below

Found it 07/09/2010 By Adrenalin Junkie
Great area to explore

Found it 02/01/2010 By akabumper
I want to thank mtn_goat for the motivation to check out this cache- it's an awesome hike. Swapped trackables. TFTC!

Write note 01/30/2010 By Spivey
I joined Mtn_Goat for a great day of hiking, so I dropped a T/B.

Found it 01/30/2010 By mtn_goat
I love this canyon, but it can be so hard to get to sometimes. Today we dropped in from the Palmer trail (and then had to climb back out). We searched for quite a while with Spivey's corrected coords only to find the cache right where the original coords said it would be. The falls were mostly frozen, but still flowing. Beautiful. I left some bait to get another cacher out here sometime in the next two years.