Phantom Falls
Phantom Falls is a waterfall in California, at a modelled elevation of 338 m. Bear Ranch Hill stands 1,455 m to the north-northeast, 19 miles off. The nearest named place is Little Phantom Falls, a waterfall 0.1 miles away.
Intermittent waterfall at North Table Mountain. There is a shallow cave behind it at the bottom of the canyon, and an abandoned mine shaft that has been filled in.
The story
Phantom Falls or Coal Canyon Falls is a waterfall at Coal Canyon near Oroville, California, within the North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve. The waterfall is 166 feet (51 m) high and runs off the edge of Coal Canyon, in front of a grotto. A small pool at the bottom is home to a California newt subspecies, the Coastal Range newt. As a seasonal waterfall, Phantom Falls runs only during the rainy months, late autumn to early spring. It is named Phantom Falls because it disappears during the dry season. There is no trail to the waterfall, although a parking lot on Cherokee Road provides access for hikers. It is about 2 miles (3.2 km) from the parking lot to the waterfall, which is visible from the rim of Coal Canyon. A strenuous downhill hike then ends at the bottom of the waterfall. The falls can also be reached from Coal Canyon Road at the bottom of Coal Canyon, a hike of about the same distance but longer and more strenuous, over rocky terrain. The shaft of an abandoned gold mine in the grotto behind the falls dates to the California Gold Rush. Today, there is no gold there, but research still takes place in the mineshaft. Entering the mineshaft is difficult but not prohibited.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Wikidata Q7180563, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What the record says
- Height
- 50 m
How to reach it
Named places within 25 miles
- North Table Mountain: 1.9 mi
- Sugarloaf: 2.2 mi
- The High Rocks: 2.7 mi
- Red Hill: 3.7 mi
- South Table Mountain: 3.8 mi
- Bloomer Primitive Recreation Area: 3.4 mi
- Goat Ranch Recreation Area: 4.5 mi
- Lime Saddle Memorial Park: 5.2 mi
- Potters Ravine Recreation Area: 5.4 mi
- Thermalito Forebay North Picnic Area: 5.5 mi
- Little Phantom Falls: 0.1 mi
- Ravine Falls: 0.5 mi
- Ravine Twin Falls: 0.5 mi
- Ravine Twin Falls: 0.5 mi
- Lower Ravine Falls: 0.8 mi
- bath house museum: 6.4 mi
- Pioneer History Museum: 6.6 mi
- Oroville Chinese Temple: 6.7 mi
- Butte County Historical Society Museum: 6.8 mi
- C F Lott Historic Home: 6.9 mi
- Beatson Corral: 1.5 mi
- World Trade Center artifact: 5.5 mi
- IN LOVING MEMORY OF Kristina Chesterman 1992-2013: 15.4 mi
- 9/11 Memorial: 16.7 mi
- Phagna Norapamok Memorial: 16.9 mi
- Downtown Kaleidoscope: 17.1 mi
- Wildcat Sculpture: 17.1 mi
- Monoliths: 17.2 mi
- Three Sisters: 17.2 mi
- Steel "Sculpture": 17.2 mi
- Bloomer: 3.8 mi
- Bidwell's Bar: 7.4 mi
- Brush: 10.2 mi
- Hamilton: 11.6 mi
- Chandon: 21.2 mi
- Hespol Memorial Spring: 7.1 mi
- Hog Spring: 13.8 mi
- Colyear Springs: 18.5 mi
- Negro Spring: 24.3 mi
- Root Spring: 24.8 mi
- Clarenback Point: 6.9 mi
- Cape Horn: 6.9 mi
- East China Point: 18.2 mi
- Elephant Butte: 21.2 mi
- Chico Seed Orchard: 13.6 mi
- Rose Garden: 17.2 mi
- Mary Lemcke Camellia Garden: 17.2 mi
- George Petersen Rose Garden: 17.2 mi
- Five Mile: 16.1 mi
- Paradise Lake Picnic Area: 16.8 mi
- Collins Lake Group Picnic Area #1: 22.9 mi
- North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve: 1.4 mi
- Oroville Wildlife Management Area: 10.9 mi
- Collins Lake Beach: 23.0 mi
Summits around it
The highest named summits within 19.4 miles of Phantom Falls. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bear Ranch Hill | NNE 32° | 1,455 m | 19.3 mi |
| Big Bar Mountain | NNE 32° | 1,332 m | 13.5 mi |
| Quartz Hill | E 84° | 1,325 m | 19.2 mi |
| Flea Mountain | NNE 17° | 1,299 m | 15.8 mi |
| Sky High | ENE 62° | 1,275 m | 17.7 mi |
| Shute Mountain | ENE 66° | 1,255 m | 15.6 mi |
| Swain Hill | E 89° | 1,248 m | 17.0 mi |
| Hungary Hunt Peak | NNE 31° | 1,227 m | 12.6 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 07:10 | 18:43 | 19:19 |
| June solstice | 05:40 | 19:58 | 20:38 |
| September equinox | 06:55 | 18:29 | 19:05 |
| December solstice | 07:24 | 16:03 | 16:46 |
Local time (America/Los_Angeles).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: Feb–Nov.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 49 | 52 | 57 | 61 | 68 | 75 | 80 | 78 | 73 | 65 | 55 | 49 |
| Precip in | 5.8 | 5.6 | 4.7 | 2.2 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 2.8 | 5.5 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Oroville, 6 mi away.
Months at or above the year’s average flow: Jan–May — fullest in Apr, leanest in Sep.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean cfs | 4,724 | 6,284 | 6,406 | 7,249 | 5,858 | 3,190 | 1,741 | 1,433 | 1,247 | 1,438 | 2,016 | 3,387 |
USGS monthly mean discharge at gauge Feather R A Oroville CA, 6 mi away — the nearest gauge, which can sit on a different stream.
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikipediaWikidataOpenStreetMap element node/1074721700
Day trips start here
- Chico · 17 mi
Take the scenic way to Phantom Falls.
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