Before becoming a park, the land was privately owned. Loggers were generally the only people who knew about Whiskeytown falls.  Logging resulted in fragmented old growth and abandoned roads and features that disrupt natural drainage patterns and contribute to debris flows and deposition of fine-grained sediment into the creeks.

James K. Carr, a former Shasta County resident, became the Undersecretary of the Interior during the Kennedy Administration in 1963. He was determined to set aside Whiskeytown Lake, Shasta Bally and the surrounding mountains as a national park site. Carr was successful and on November 8, 1963, Congress created the 42,000 acre Whiskeytown National Recreation Area.

Park rangers initially learned about the waterfall in 1967, but kept it quiet.  At that time, the park did not have the staff to protect this treasure or the money to construct a trail to the falls. Eventually, these rangers moved on and others who knew about the site passed away. Knowledge of the falls was generally forgotten and only a few residents visited the falls over the years. It was in 2004 that park biologist Russ Weatherbee “discovered” the falls while viewing aerial photos. Intrigued, he and Park Geologist Brian Rasmussen hiked into the area and found the falls.

Credits and Sources:

National Park Service. “Foundation Document: Whiskeytown National Recreation Area.”  NPS.gov. http://www.nps.gov/whis/upload/WHIS_FD_PRINT-2.pdf (accessed June 26th, 2015).

National Park Service. “James K. Carr Trail.” NPS.gov             http://www.nps.gov/whis/planyourvisit/upload/jameskcarrtrail%20FINAL.pmd-3.pdf (accessed June 26th, 2015).