Box Canyon Falls and Cascade Falls are on the outskirts of Ouray while Bear Creek Falls is 2.6 miles south of town.
The Box Canyon Falls is the culmination of Canyon Creek narrowing and spilling thousands of gallons a minute of water over the falls. One can view it both from above and below the falls. The Box Canyon “Box” has been designated an important bird area by the National Audubon Society. At this most spectacular geological formation, the 85-foot waterfall plummets into a narrow, quartzite canyon with walls overhanging the falls by nearly 100 feet.
Box Canyon Falls has been the location of important research on the Black Swifts, which are protected under the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. Black Swifts are the largest of the swifts that migrate to North America. The Black Swift colony typically arrives from Brazil at the Box Canyon Falls in early June and stays through September.
Visible from nearly anywhere in Ouray, the 160-foot Cascade Falls is an impressive sight. This is the lower-most of a series of seven waterfalls in Cascade Creek.
Bear Creek Falls is one of the most prominent waterfalls found in the Ouray area, plunging a sheer 200 feet into Uncompahgre Gorge just outside of town. The Million Dollar Highway, itself an attraction, crosses over the top of the falls between sections of road blasted into the side of cliffs. Immediately upstream of the road, Bear Creek flows down a narrow canyon with sheer walls rising hundreds of feet up from the stream. The creek then plunges into the depths of the canyon to join the mineral-stained Uncompahgre River immediately below the road. During the spring and early summer months the creek will swell to boisterous levels and escalate Bear Creek Falls to one of the best waterfalls in Colorado.
