After hiking 1.1 miles along the Plaikni Falls trail, you’re rewarded with a beautiful view of Plaikni Falls. The name “Plaikni Falls” which means “from the high country” comes from the Klamath Indian Tribes whose traditional homeland includes Crater Lake National Park and who still have strong cultural ties to this area to this day.
Plaikni Falls is not fed by Crater Lake. The source water for Sand Creek is snow melt which begins at Anderson Spring just above Anderson Bluffs (7000 feet above sea level — 2134 meters) Sand Creek flows approximately a quarter of a mile before hitting a glacier carved cliff which it cascades over to create Plaikni Falls. At the base of Plaikni Falls, Sand Creek continues to cascade over rocky terrain to the south through Kerr Valley, then toward the west through The Pinnacles until it eventually flows out of Crater Lake National Park.
The base of Plaikni Falls is quite lush and filled with wildflowers:
It’s wonderful that there is now easy access to this previously “secret” waterfall at Crater Lake and the beautiful scenery around Plaikni Falls makes the hike out there well worth the time and effort. Here is a short video I took at the end of Plaikni Falls trail at the base of the falls: