Dunanda Falls
Sitting at home staring out the window watching it snow, makes me wish for the warm days of summer. I was complaining to Lyssa about the weather and she said " well it's a good time to write about some of our trips this past summer" so here we go.
We hiked to Dunanda Falls on August 29th earlier this year. Dunanda is located southwest corner of Yellowstone National Park. To get there you take the Cave Falls road North-East of Ashton Idaho and drive about 31miles, then turn North at the Bechler Ranger Station access road. I think it was about a 1 or 1/12 mile up the road to where the trailhead starts. You will need a Yellowstone Park Pass. The hike in and out is 16 miles although we put in closer to 18 miles with an elevation gain of about 250 ft.
Once we got to the Bechler Ranger station, I was a little apprehensive about all the people everywhere in the parking lot. I did find a parking spot, but I would suggest getting there early to ensure parking spot, I talked with a park ranger that was there and he said " visitor numbers were up this year, the most they have seen in last several years"
Now the fun begins, Lyssa, the kids, and I start at the trailhead around 7:30am so it's still kinda cool outside. We were excited to go do this hike, couldn't wait to see the falls and maybe play in the hot springs below the falls The scenery was beautiful, open meadows, meandering streams, blue skies with some large puffy clouds, just a great day for a hike
The biggest thing to be aware of is all the intersecting trails. Stay on the Boundary Creek trail, so have a map, also there are signs marking the way. Most of the streams crossings are small, except for Boundary Creek, this one is about knee-deep. I would not try crossing this stream before the first part of July, my guess is run off would be high and make for a dangerous crossing. Bring water shoes to wear for the crossing.
After about 8.5 miles from the trailhead, there is a spur to the campsite 9A3. Take this trail and it will drop you off at the hot springs located downstream of the waterfalls. We decided to keep climbing up on the main trail and took a little side trip to Silver Scarf Falls. After a quick side trip, we proceeded to Dunanda Falls, these falls do not disappoint. Once we got there, we just sat and enjoyed the view for a while. Listening to the thundering falls, feeling the small wisps of water being carried from the falls, gently landing on us to help cool away the afternoon heat. Just a fun experience.
After staying at the falls for quite a while it was time to head back. We made a fairly good time on the return trip. Although we did stop and take a break to do some fly fishing on Boundary Creek. The fish were co-operative that day. Trout gently sipped caddisflies and hopper imitations presented to them off the top of the water. We caught several fish and only stopped because the day was running out. Note: you need a Yellowstone Fishing license to fish in the park.
Once done with the fishing, we headed on out the remaining few miles back to the trailhead. We got back hot, tired, dusty, and happy. This hiking trip was well worth it.
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