Address: Burney Falls, 24898 Hwy 89 California 96013
Burney Falls is a 129-foot falls and the most beautiful and breathtaking waterfall. It is about a 5 hours drive from San Francisco and it’s located in Shasta County. Burney Falls is located inside Mc Arthur State Park. Parking day use is $10 per vehicle and it includes a trail map. We arrived at Burney Falls at around 9:30 am and there were a lot of parking spaces still available. There were a few parking spaces that are paved which are located after passing the park entrance and in the back area near the public restrooms and gift shop. While the rest of the parking areas are made up of dirt and gravel. We visited Burney Falls twice once in Aug. 2020 and May 2021.
We parked behind the gift shop and the public restrooms. We walked for about 10 minutes to the entrance of the falls. We took the paved downhill trail on the right side and walked for about 10 minutes which led us to the bottom of the waterfalls. There were a lot of photo opportunities along the trail. Once we were on the bottom we went through a lot of slippery, sharp rocks and a steep descent to get closer to the waterfalls. We wore our masks and tried to maintain our distance from others. There were a lot of people taking group pictures and selfie pose near the middle of the waterfalls. We felt the waterfall mists when we were closer to the waterfalls and the water is cold but with a beautiful blue and greenish color.
We saw a “Falls Loop” trail sign near the bottom right of the waterfalls. We hiked thru the waterfalls loop which is about 1.2 miles roundtrip and encircles the waterfalls. There is a great photo opportunity on the first bridge with a large downed Redwood Tree in front of the River. The Falls Loop is a dirt trail that has a few switchbacks and a moderate ascend to the top. We also passed through a Rainbow Bridge before the end of our trail hike which led us back to where we started.
After our fun short hike, we purchased a Burney Falls Huckleberry jam and Twizzlers at the gift shop. There are a lot of clean public restrooms available near the gift shop store. And I highly suggest getting there earlier because there were a lot of cars looking for a parking spot by the time we left at 1 p.m. We purchased Polish hotdogs, nacho cheese, veggie burger, ice cream at the gift shop and ate it outside on one of the picnic tables. Overall, it was well worth the long drive from San Francisco and witnessing the amazing and beautiful Burney Falls.
Tips: Get there earlier before 10:30 a.m. to find parking and to avoid the crowd. Wear hiking boots, bring water bottles and a thin jacket just in case of the weather change. You can purchase hot foods at the gift shop such as a polish hotdog, nacho cheese, veggie hamburger. Raw hamburgers are available and you have to cook them yourself. Some people bring their own food as there are a lot of picnic tables available throughout the park. There was traffic on Hwy 89 when we left at 1 p.m. due to people trying to get into the park entrance but a Park Ranger was present and asking people if they were going straight or going to the park to alleviate the traffic.
Let me know if you have any questions or what you think about Burney Falls after your visit in the comments below. And kindly subscribe, share our family travel blog site with your friends and family. Or even include our travel blog website address when you post your pictures on social media. Have fun and stay safe. Thank you.