Towell Falls from Escure Ranch is a 6.5 mile lightly trafficked out and back trail located near Endicott, Washington that features a waterfall and is rated as moderate. The trail offers a number of activity options and is accessible year-round. Dogs are also able to use this trail.
Go for the desert waterfalls and incredible views. Perfect hiking in the winter!!! Great winter hiking, if you don't mind snakes, its worth it in the summer (but could get really hot). Stunning photography of mesas, arroyos and waterfalls. Easy to adjust the hike to the distance you want. Be a great family hike. - Wonderful story about this being a sheep ranch. You can imagine people living out here in the old days.
BLM - Rock Creek/Escure Ranch http://www.blm.gov/or/resources/recreation/site_info.php?siteid=271 Area map - http://www.blm.gov/or/resources/recreation/files/brochures/rock_creek_kiosk_0512.pdf
-In the summer - bring lots of water, double what you think you will consume. By and large, people underestimate their water needs, especially in the desert. - I don't want to scare people way, but there are rattlesnakes out here. We came across three in late April. If you stick to the main road/trail, you can easily spot them if they are crossing the road - we only saw one crossing. Just beware, lots of people think there are no rattle snakes in northeastern Washington, which is not true. Also, this area is heavy with ticks in tick season - April through June is the hight of the season. - This area does not have any hiking fees. - Dogs must be under the owners control. During the worse of the tick season, leave them home. With the snakes, leash them late March to early October.
February 13, 2021Middle of nowhere. Obviously cold. Roughly 1 inch of fresh snow. Followed trail to the waterfall and followed the creek back and then climbed some rocks. Lots of off-trail options! Beautiful....
February 6, 2021January 16, 2021January 10, 2021January - Mid Winter No snow Nice easy trail south of Sprague. Tucked back into the hills. It’s a little gloomy in the winter on an overcast day, but there are plenty of interesting rock formations to look at (basalt I think?), and the mountains off in the distance were very pretty. Obviously the highlight of the trail was the waterfalls, and they were worth the hike. Definitely nothing spectacular, but I think the pictures do them justice. The trail while a bit long was fairly easy, although a little overgrown and muddy. Parking lot is large, has a bathroom, and looks like you can camp there. The trail was fairly active even this time of year, but seemed to be mostly hunters (bird I think). Getting to the trail is straightforward if a little long. Last section to the trailhead is a bit rutted, so a car with decent clearance would be best.
December 12, 2020**BEWARE!!! Wear your HUNTERS ORANGE!!! We did not hike this time because we did not have orange vests and too many hunters in the area and near the trail head. We’ve hiked here before and enjoyed it very much. I gave it 3 stars because of hunting season and no warning. We will return another time
November 28, 2020This was my second time back (first time was a year to this day!). The hike is easy, but it has a nice payoff in the end with all of the waterfalls, even if many of them are dry by the end of fall. There is hardly any shade on this trail. Note: The road through the Rock Creek management area is awful (hence the four stars), bad enough that I blew a tire on my way out. Don't let that discourage you from going, just be careful on that last stretch.
November 27, 2020Beautiful fall hike. Tye trail boss overgrown but easy enough in the fall.
November 27, 2020November 11, 2020October 19, 2020Nice easy hike. Pretty falls were still flowing in October.
October 4, 2020The trail is basically an old ranch road that is overgrown in areas. We took off at about 2:30 pm and a portion of the trail, near the end was in the shade, but rest of the trail is full sun and if we’d hit that section earlier it would have been too. Enjoyable walk, will absolutely do it again!
August 9, 2020Very overgrown in places requiring bush wacking. Falls are worth it. No shade
August 9, 2020last little bit of road in is gravel/pot holes/slow going. trailhead has a covered picnic area, horse trough, and clean porta potty. you also have a view of the old ranch across a bridge, which you can walk up to before/after your hike, but all the buildings are boarded up for safety. the hike itself was about 7m roundtrip. pretty much the entire trail is 4x4 trail ruts, which make it easy to stay on. a lot of the trail is overgrown, so we followed other hikers reviews and made sure to wear long pants/bug spray to ward off the ticks. the hike itself is very easy, no challenging inclines/declines/scrambling. we probably hiked on a day that was slightly too warm...make sure to bring plenty of water and protection from the sun (no shade). you get rewarded at the end with the falls, which was still going good in august.
August 2, 2020Did this hike in late spring. No shade but really great views of the scablands and large rock formations. The falls are not that impressive, but nonetheless pretty. Very large parking lot with pit toilet. Several dogs off leash.
June 11, 2020Loved this hike! It’s about 7 miles total depending on if you have to walk around to the falls as there’s too much overgrowth. I keep missing the annual open of the ORV road, but it’s a small window between may and June! None the less, I definitely recommend this hike!!
May 25, 2020I have loved this hike in the past but this year when we went down a large group of people had driven their big trucks down and brought their 12 packs of beer, etc. to the falls. One openly packed a gun. So disappointing. This was right after the governor announced the "no groups over ten" order. I have never seen so many people on the trail--not only this party but several others. In the past I might see one or two other parties all day. It's a great spot for wildflowers, wildlife, etc. My friend and I saw two wolves across the river last year! But I will not do this trail again on a weekend. I would also not go in the summer, too hot and lots of snakes.
May 9, 2020The gate from the road is now open. After adding a extra 6 miles to the hike from the locked gate the Ranger drove by us after unlocking the gate with a mile left to the car :) guess we should have waited another day. It was a good day at 12.5 miles with the water flowing nicely cool and refreshing for the feet. There are snakes out came upon two one yellow belly racer and a young rattler that I just about stepped on. Nice wagon trail and desert scenery kinda over grown around the lower falls. And there are Ticks!!
April 25, 2020Closed
April 8, 2020beautiful area! recommended to start early in the day don't want to be walking back at night with the rattle snake/Cougers! easy flat trail with a dessert feel to it.
March 26, 2020This trail is a 4x4 road almost all the way to the waterfall. Cool rocks/cliffs along the trail. About a 1/8 mile from the waterfall there looks to be a campground for pitching tents. Waterfall is cool but if you’re just chasing waterfalls this one isn’t too majestic. On my way back I ran into a park ranger coming down the trail. Nice fella.
February 16, 2020Beautiful scabland area hike with a waterfall at the end I could give or take
