Feather Falls
Map SatelliteFeather Falls, though misnamed as they are on the Fall River approximately 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) above its confluence with the Feather River, are the second highest in California, with a clear drop of some 150 meters (500 feet) followed by another 60 meters (200 feet) of cascades.
The falls are located in the Bald Rock pluton, a late Jurassic granodiorite intrusion. Apparently the falls have been cut through the coarser-grained sections of the pluton.
Vegetation in the area ranges from foothill woodland to yellow pine forest. On a tributary above the falls there are scattered stands of California nutmeg, Torreya californica.
Integrity: The falls are undisturbed, though there is a trail as well as a lookout point in the area.
Use: Research, educational, observational, present.
Ref: Compton, Robert, 1955. Trondhjemite Batholith near Bidwell Bar, Calif. Bull. Geo. Soc. Amer. No. 66, pp. 9-44.
March 1977
Inventory of California Natural Areas
Revision © 2009 Steven Louis Hartman