Helen Hunt Falls Hike

Located in the mountains right outside of Colorado Springs in North Cheyenne Cañon Park, Helen Hunt Falls is an easily accessible and photogenic 35-foot waterfall south of Mays Peak along North Cheyenne Cañon Road. Extensively developed, trails encircle the waterfall and include well-maintained stone staircases with easy navigation to the base of the falls.

Visiting the falls is best in the spring when winter runoffs are strongest. This is especially important for Silver Cascade Falls, which can be accessed from Helen Hunt Falls via a short 0.6-mile hike. Low flows are evident as early as July. Enjoy wildflowers along the way; at the waterfall, hikers will find wide views down the canyon to the Colorado Springs area.

Helen Hunt Falls derives its name from Helen Maria Hunt Jackson, an advocate of Native American rights in the 19th century. She exposed government violations of Native American treaties, in particular through her history, A Century of Dishonor, and with a subsequent dramatization in a novel she titled Ramona, which was a commercial success. One of her most popular poems was written about Cheyenne Mountain, west of Colorado Springs, where she lived late in her life and where her remains were buried in 1885.