Sacaton Falls
DO NOT VISIT WATERFALLS DURING DRY TIMES
... Fabulous Sacaton Falls...!!! 300 feet high...!!!
the bottom 150’ is free
falling in the wind…!!!!!
Please note the Douglas Fir trees on the left
appear larger than they actually are because they are much closer to the camera
than the falls are... also more of Sacaton Falls are
above what shows in this photo.
Scroll down to see seven more photos below the map.
BETA FACTS
name- Sacaton Falls
height- 300’
elevation- 8400’
GPS coordinates- ±33°15.684’N 108°41.833W
flow- perennial trout stream... closed to fishing to protect
endangered Gila Trout.
season- May thru November
accommodations- Gila Wilderness
ownership- Gila National Forest
access- x mile hike up the stream without a
maintained trail but it’s fairly easy going
nearest town- Glenwood is 12 air miles west of
here
fun fact- THIS IS
A TRUE WONDER…!!!
Sacaton Falls
By:
Doug Murphy
We
have all heard of the “Fool on a Hill”.
Taos sculptor Doug Scott is the “Fool in the Canyon”. You see water doesn’t flow on top of hills...
But rather... Water flows in canyons. Therefore canyons are where waterfalls are
found. Doug is a waterfall loving fool
who has found and documented several hundred waterfalls in New Mexico since
1957.
“Oh
get real,” you say, “New Mexico doesn’t have but maybe three or four
waterfalls.”
“Hundreds,”
Scott states without flinching... “They are free public information. Just Google New Mexico waterfalls and scroll down until you see the name Doug
Scott... Soak in the information and head for the canyons.” Waterfalling is
sport all it’s own.
A
resent off-trail hike has found one of the higher perennial waterfalls in all
the Gila country of southwestern New Mexico.
At about 8400 feet elevation in the upper reaches of Sacaton
Creek within the Gila Wilderness, Scott has found 300 foot high, perennial
flowing Sacaton Falls.
It’s
a beauty. It is a New Mexico
Treasure...!!! “It is one of the 7000
Wonders of New Mexico,” he declares behind his crooked grin.
The
many ten to twenty foot high falls in Whitewater Canyon’s famous “catwalk”
along with 30 foot high Mogollon Falls are the only waterfalls most people have
ever heard of in this wonderful “Gila Country”.
The new owners of Mogollon Falls, “Buckhorn Ranch” no longer allow
anyone to visit it. Mogollon falls is a
splendid paradise, but it has the misfortune of hiding behind nasty “NO
TRESPASSING” signs.
However
nothing is lost! Not only can Mogollon
Falls still be viewed from public Gila National Forest land up above the
falls... but... Sacaton Creek is better. There are many waterfalls on Sacaton Creek. Even
the small waterfalls on Sacaton Creek are higher than
Mogollon Falls and every bit as pretty.
In
the first 200 feet below the small diversion dam at the end of Sacaton Road there are two high waterfalls sculpted in
solid, smooth bedrock. They are called
Lower Sacaton Falls.
One of them is 30 feet high while the next one down
stream is 50 feet high. Both
falls are very sheer and in an absolute beautiful setting. During heavy snowmelt and summer deluges
these falls create their own thunder that shakes the earth. Unfortunately trails here are merely
dangerous crawling slots that skid under sticker bushes. The safest places to view these waterfalls
are from the rim of the little canyon they are in. What a wonderful place this is for a
well-designed trail system.
These
waterfalls are not wilderness. They are
only about 100 feet away from the road... and they are as beautiful as any
waterfall can be. These two waterfalls
along with a smaller sculpted falls between them compose one three-tiered
waterfall 90 feet high, because it is sculpted in one single mass of bedrock.
However
the “real” Sacaton Falls, six miles above is
amazing. The 300 feet distance of
falling waters are foaming white even at the very brink. Then it bounces, tumbles and dances against
the cliff before launching air-borne at midway for the second half finale. Swirling mountain breezes carry lunging waves
of white sparkle sweeping slowly from side to side... down... down... and ever
down to splash as heavy rain on the rocks below. The cliff seems as a fortress wall strong,
smooth and straight rising 1000 feet into towers keeping watch over each side
of the falls. Swallows and swifts
jetting in circles high overhead are only half way up the falls.
Before
Scott found some other higher waterfalls, 200-foot high Fall Creek Falls was
thought to be the Gila area’s highest.
It’s in the Black Range of the Aldo Leopold Wilderness. There are also a half dozen or so nice high,
and hard to get to waterfalls in the upper reaches of Little Whitewater Creek
and Rain Creek as well. Each of Rain
Creek’s three main forks have high cataracts of their
own.
“Waterfalling” or visiting Waterfalls is a wonderful
hobby... it is a fast growing sport.
Even tho Doug has found and documented
hundreds of New Mexico waterfalls he says, “I won’t live to find them all...
the more I find... the more there are to find.”
more photos are
below this map.
All of the Sacaton Waterfalls are shown at the lower-right-hand
portion of this map below.
For a new
updated and much enlarged map of this area click here
Enhanced USGS 7.5’ topo map
________ONE MILE_______
My friend Jay Hemphill found Sacaton Natural Arch while hiking to Sacaton
Cave in 2015. It has an approximate span
of 75’. Photo:
Jay
Hemphill
Two un-named 15’
waterfalls along Sacaton Creek
Sacaton Cabin was home to miners while prospecting
for gold... it seems the “rats” are in
full control today...!!!!
this sweet 20’ high falls is a short way below
the upper forks of Sacaton Creek.
15’ high Sacaton
Dam is at the end-of-the-road parking area where the ditch removes water from Sacaton Creek.
...just below the Dam is the first of two
beautiful waterfalls called Lower Sacaton Falls. this falls drops
about 30’.
Here’s you a blurry photo of the 50’ high
lower Sacaton Waterfall.
Sacaton Creek is among New
Mexico’s best waterfall creeks…!!!!!
Send questions and comments to doug.vivian@yahoo.com