Jumbo Falls and Eagle Rock (Washoe County, Nevada)

For the past few weeks, I have been taking some off-road excursions in my jeep looking for a remote waterfall I have read about, Jumbo Falls. Unfortunately, I have not had any luck locating the correct trail in those hills. Over the years, a number of jeep and dirt bike trails have been cut all through the area, forming a crisscrossed network. 

This morning, I decided to take another crack at it. The trail starts at the Jumbo Grade trailhead off of Eastlake Blvd. near Washoe Lake. Different from many of my blogs, this trip was a combination of off-roading in the jeep and some hiking when the terrain got a little to rough for my confidence on 4-wheels. On my previous trip, I had discovered what little remains of the abandoned mining town of Jumbo, for which this 'road' is named. Jumbo Grade actually connects Washoe City to Virginia City, and Jumbo was at one time the midpoint. The road is still navigable with a 4x4, as I traveled the whole distance on that trip.

The difficulty though, came at Jumbo last time as there are a number of trails leading into the hills north of the ghost town. Today though, I got luck and chose the correct one. Shortly after leaving Jumbo, another site which I was expecting to find on the way came into view. I had read that a rock formation similar to the columnar basalt that makes up Devils Postpile National Monument (and many other similar sites around the world) was visible along the correct path. Of course, I had to to explore it. Luckily, I spoke with a dirt biker at a trail fork on the way and he suggested the correct route. He also mentioned he had always heard the feature referred to as Eagle Rock. While I can't find much information on the internet about, I did find one other reference to it using this name. So, Eagle Rock, it is.

Parking the jeep on something of a clearing, I search for a path up to the top of the formation. I don't find one, but luckily, enough of the columns have crumbled to make it possible to climb/scramble to the top. This is probably the fourth or fifth columnar basalt formation I have visited and none of them disappoint. Though, the top of this one is not polished as Devils Postpile is, there is little doubt that it is the same type of geology. The broken 'posts' give testament to the volcanic history of this place. The wind is blowing hard on top and with only a vague idea of where the falls is located, I decide to start back to the jeep and continue my search.

The trail gets even rougher as I continue onward. Large rocks liter the ground, fallen trees lean over the trail, and rutted, muddy tracks lead the way down steep slopes towards an unknown destination - hopefully, the one I'm looking for. Eventually, I reach a point where I am unsure of being able to turn around and I decide to leave the jeep to continue on foot.

I'm actually pretty glad I left the jeep where I did. While, it probably could have made the trip, it would not have been easy, nor sure and I would hate to get stuck all the way out here. On foot, the trail is pretty steep as I make my way up to a ridge. From the top of the ridge, I can see an obvious creek running alongside to the east. I decide to follow the creek. After all, a waterfall must get water from somewhere.

Soon, the two-track jeep trail turns into a single-track foot trail. I continue, but start to question my direction, as the trail begins to head back the opposite direction up a hillside. I decide to go off trail in order to continue following the creek. Carefully making my way down the side of a stony, but brittle cliff, I see water dribbling of the rock below. As I finally reach the water and turn to my left, I realize that I have finally found Jumbo Falls, and even with a little water in it. Unfortunately, this approach does not offer any great views of the falls as it pours into a narrow canyon. I do my best to maneuver to get a good shot, but fearing a fall into the deep canyon, I decide to accept the shots I got. Perhaps another time, I will try to approach the falls from below.

Making my way up the rocky terrain, I arrive back at the trail and start heading for the jeep. The trail is surprisingly steep even from this direction, but I eventually get back to the jeep, and with the winds picking up even further and a storm blowing in, probably just in time. I drive back the way I came in and head for home. While there isn't much to be found on the internet about these two sites (probably because of the remoteness), they are certainly with a visit and in truth, the entire trip could be hiked, though it would be a day of 12-ish miles.