Placer
Creek Falls
Placer
Creek Falls - upper part Placer
Creek Falls - lower part
Placer Creek Falls has two parts carved in solid granite. A short stretch of calm water separates
the upper and lower parts. You will
notice that some of the white foam from the upper part can be seen thru the
bushes above the lower part in the above photo. The lower drop is about 13 feet high while the upper part is
a cascading beauty with approximately 40 feet of fall. This waterfall can be found a quarter
of a mile north of US highway 64 between Tierra Amarilla and Tres Piedras, NM
near Hopewell Lake. It is quite
visible from forest road 1892.
Placer Creek has several smaller falls some
2 miles below the Hopewell Lake dam, as it tumbles thru a spectacular,
fantasy-like, sheer walled, granite gorge. The word “placer” means “gold is present”. Rusted mining equipment lies abandoned
in this lower gorge… and miners have let me know that gold can still be panned
here…!!!! …another secret is that
I have caught some nice high-country trout in this stream.
Enhanced
National Geographic 7.5’ topo map
one
mile = approximately four inches
Send questions and comments to doug.vivian@yahoo.com