Bear Creek Falls, Ouray

by Tom Douglas
(Highlands Ranch, Colorado)

Bear Creek Falls under Highway 550

This waterfall is underneath the bridge along Highway 550 (Million Dollar Highway) and makes a good roadside view of this waterfall. It's located about 2 1/2 miles south of Ouray. The photo is about a 90-degree view from the bridge to the bottom of the falls. You'll need a panoramic camera to capture the entire waterfall, or shoot it in segments and use photo editing software to stitch the frames together as I did.

I hiked up the nearby Bear Creek Trail. The trailhead runs over the tunnel just before you get to the falls. I would strongly recommend that you be in good shape for hiking this 100-year-old trail as the first 1-2 miles has a steep ascent (1,000 vertical feet plus). In about 2 miles is a horsetail waterfall in a chasm before reaching Grizzly Bear Mine. There's a few more falls on the way to Yellow Jacket mine (5 miles) which aren't as tall.

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Bear Creek Falls and others
by: Linda C

I visited this waterfall last year and enjoyed it very much. If I remember correctly, there was another falls directly across from it from high on the mountain, but not very wide. Is this the one you were speaking of on your hike?

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Thank you :-)
by: Karen Price

Thank you Tom for this great picture of Bear Creek Falls :-). I think it's one of the best waterfalls in Colorado, and it's definitely one of the easiest to see, (well, other than the long drive to Ouray from the Denver area), since you can park your car in the small parking area and go see it. And speaking of that, thank you for giving the directions to it so other people can go see it :-).

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