Calypso Cascades in August 2009
At the Wild Basin Trailhead in Rocky Mountain National Park, you can access a number of waterfalls. The first few, Lower and Upper Copeland Falls, are not extremely exciting. There are a number of other unnamed falls along the river that are cool, though sometimes hard to view.
The Calypso Cascades are further along the trail, and this is the first impressive falls you’ll see. This set of cascades is something like 100′ tall. It’s hard to sense that from the picture since the falls are relatively deep. It was a little bit difficult to photograph the falls due to the sunlight, but it’s still an impressive and photogenic waterfall, and a photogenic hike in general. After continuing on, you can visit the very impressive Ouzel Falls.
Directions:
- Drive north on CO-7 past Allenspark. A few miles after passing Allenspark, you will see an entrance for Rocky Mountain National Park indicating the Wild Basin Trailhead. Turn left here.
- Drive down the road for a very short distance to the park entrance. You can pay the entrance fee here.
- Drive down the rather narrow dirt road to the very end. This will be the parking area for the Wild Basin Trailhead. It may be advisable to arrive early in the summer, as the parking area only has 20-25 parking spaces.
- From the parking area, begin walking on the Wild Basin Trail. You’ll pass Lower Copeland, Upper Copeland, on your way to Calypso Cascades. Ouzel Falls is found further along the trail.
Accessibility: 7/10 (easy/moderate)
Height: ~100′
Length of Hike: 3.6 miles round-trip (to these Cascades)
Where in the World is Calypso Cascades?
The Waterfall Record 