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Dunanda Falls via Boundary Creek Trail

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

4.5/5
based on 2 reviews

Details

Distance

16.56 miles

Elevation Gain

771 ft

Route Type

Out-and-Back

Description

Added by The Outbound Collective

Enjoy easy backpacking with stunning landscapes and hot springs under a waterfall. There are great campsites close to the 150 ft falls with wide open spaces.

You'll start at the Bechler Ranger Station and take the Boundry Creek Trail. Depending on which camp site you reserve your hike will be anywhere from 5-9 miles. We camped at site 9A1 5 miles from the ranger station. Hiking to waterfall is 16+ miles round trip

Your feet will get wet on this hike, so Chacos or waterproof boots will be necessary, however in couple places the water crossings can get knee or thigh deep.

The hike is only about 300-400 feet of elevation from the trail head so feel free to pack that extra luxury item in your pack as you won't do much climbing. My pack was around 50lbs.

Bear spray is a must here, as the rout is only accessible in the fall due to a portion of the trail passing through a meadow that is actually a lake most months of the year.

Dunanda falls is pretty epic. By default the trail will take you up to the top of the falls, which is a few well worth seeing. Once you've had your fill, head back about .3 miles to 9A3 camp site marker and follow that trail to the base of the waterfall where you'll find a hand full of natural hot spring fed pools. 

All in all, its a pretty low key hike, easy to navigate and some jaw dropping scenery. This is a trip you'll be thinking about all through the winter.

Make sure to get your permits ahead of time.

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Features

Camping
Fishing
Photography
Backpacking
Hiking
Easy Parking
Forest
Hot Springs
River
Romantic
Scenic
Waterfall
Swimming Hole

Dunanda Falls via Boundary Creek Trail Reviews

Whats neater than feeling the cool spray from a huge waterfall on a warm summer day? Relaxing in a bubbling hot spring at the same time. I recomend this hike to anyone looking for great photos and great memories.

Very few things get me more excited about a backpacking trip than heading for a destination that includes a soak in a natural hot springs. There is just something cathartic about dropping my pack and shedding my clothes to soak my tired legs and aching shoulders in a rough pool of steaming thermal water. Dunanda Falls is in a secluded southwest corner of Yellowstone National Park. The park's first superintendent, Horace Albright, called it Cascade Corner for its wealth of waterfalls. It’s roughly a nine-mile hike from the Bechler Ranger Station, so we headed for Yellowstone in the early afternoon on October 25, hoping to hit the trailhead with enough daylight to make camp. The trail wound through a stand of pines and, the smells of the forest stirred my senses. The trail was easy underfoot and the miles seemed to vanish as we chatted and laughed. We reached a fork in the trail and headed left along the Boundary Creek trail. A few miles more and we broke through the tree line to see the vast expanse that is Bechler Meadows. Bechler Meadows are some of the largest and most beautiful meadows in Yellowstone National Park. They are also teeming with marshes created by a confluence of creeks and streams that crisscross the meadow. Here we were forced to slow our pace a bit, skirting a few boggy patches as we made our way through the waving grass. We paused only once… just long enough to determine the “moose” looming next to the trail was just a stump playing tricks with the fading light. One amazing sunset, a river ford, a few more miles, and a log bridge brought us to our assigned campsite a few minutes after the darkness had settled in the valley. We set up camp in the dark, then set off up the trail another mile--mile and half--to find the hot springs. The hiking trail to Dunanda Falls takes you past Scarf Falls and to the top of Dunanda. The hot springs fed pools are located at the base of the falls, and we set off looking for the trail to the base… without the map we had forgotten in the Jeep. We do a lot of hiking by headlamp, and tonight would be no exception. After several creek crossings, that were getting progressively warmer the closer we go to Dunanda, we finally arrived at, and passed, the sign indicating we were at Campsite 9A3. When we arrived at the top of the falls, we recalled the directions were to turn and go through the campsite, so we hiked back down to Campsite 9A3 and turned in the direction Boundary Creek. It took a few attempts in the dark, and a very helpful camper at the campsite, but we finally scrambled down the banks to the creek and found the large pine tree across the creek which provides the easiest--and driest--way to cross the creek. In the dark, we could make out steaming, rock-ringed pools on the banks of Boundary Creek. After a few minutes of picking our way through vegetation and mud, we found a hot spring-fed pool sheltered by a large rock. Heaven!

Leave No Trace

Always practice Leave No Trace ethics on your adventures and follow local regulations. Please explore responsibly!

Nearby

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Union Falls and Scout Pool

Mesa Nature Trail

Upper and Lower Mesa Falls Loop

Huckleberry Mountain via Sheffield Creek Trail

Camp at Lizard Creek Campground

Let Adventure be your Destination in Wyoming

Wyoming’s wide-open spaces make it easy to get off the grid and on a trail, through a park, into a forest, up a mountain or down a river. During your journey through Wyoming’s Black to Yellow Region, discover geologic marvels, dense evergreen forests and sprawling prairielands.

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