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Though short, this easy hike packs some adventure with creek crossings, Beautiful mountain views, and an awesome waterfall! Cataract falls is located in the Rocky Mountain Front in the Lewis and Clark Forest, and has lots of water volume in late spring and early summer, and calm to peaceful trickles by late summer and fall.
I know of a few folks who ice climb here in the winter! How exciting!
The dirt road to get there, (Elk Creek Road) can be rough. Big dirt potholes and oftentimes in spring, a creek runs over the road.
The 0.25 mile long hike to the falls begins at the Elk Creek Trailhead where there’s a large gravel parking area. Elk Creek runs along the long edge of the parking area, and The hike to Elk Creek Pass is off to the right. To start the hike to Cataract falls, you are faced with your first adventure — fording Elk creek! You take off your shoes and roll up your pants, or find rocks to help you cross the creek. After crossing the creek you'll go forward for a bit then hang a left into the shaded, mossy trail that leads to the next crossing of Cataract Creek. You'll see and hear the Falls off to the right!
I recommend bringing bear spray because you’ll be in prime bear country. And always be careful when exploring near waterfalls. Rocks can be more slippery than they look!
Always a fun time at Cataract Falls! Mid September the creek was running pretty low, the waterfall was great, but not nearly as robust as times we've visited in the spring or early summer. The bridge must've washed out on the road between the farm house and trailhead, but even in a smallish car the creek crossing wasn't bad at all. Looked like there was some work being done so I doubt it'll stay without a bridge for long. Perfect length hike for a 2 year old, this one is five stars every time!
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This is a free, self-guided adventure. Just show up and enjoy!
This hike is a great one! The area is gorgeous and the falls are absolutely worth the drive.
Short, easy, beautiful hike to show off what's available in the Rocky Mountain Front. This is our "go-to" hike to take out of towners on. This falls is accessible even during early spring and often in winter (for ice climbers). The road has been too icy/muddy to access in early spring some years (but not all years).
Duration: 1 hours
Great hike for a family with little ones! I must say, we were impressed with the accuracy of the website's description of the hike. We were joined by another family who had researched this same hike on a different site. They were surprised by driving through the creek and the likelihood of bears in the area. The GPS coordinates were perfect. Adventure Montana prepared us well! We took our 3 youngest (ages 13, 11, 5) but the smallest kids (ages 4, <1) were part of the other family. The drive time from Great Falls was perfect for catching up on family chats but not long enough for the kids to be begging for potty stops. The hike itself was short and very doable for everyone in the group, and the waterfall at the end was a quick payoff for all of us. The weather was warm, allowing us to enjoy the refreshing mist of the falls. Great photo ops! 2 or 3 flat, large rocks seem perfectly placed for shots directly in front of the falls. On our way back toward Great Falls, we enjoyed an impromptu meal at the 'Lazy B' in Augusta. The appetizers, pizza and ice cream were tasty and added some fun memories to our day. There's nothing like small town Montana! We took 75 minutes on the hike, taking plenty of time for photos and conversation. The whole trip (from Great Falls) took 5 hours round trip, including meal time in Augusta.
Duration: 1.25 hours
