Middle Falls is the tallest of the three waterfalls on the upper McCloud River, a wide curtain of water roughly 50 feet high that pours over a ledge of basalt into a large, round plunge pool. It sits in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest on the McCloud Ranger District, about 7 miles east of the town of McCloud and 1.3 trail miles upstream of Fowlers Campground. The pool below the falls is one of the swimming holes the Forest Service names for this stretch of river, along with Lower Falls and Cattle Camp.

There are two ways in. From the McCloud Ranger Station, drive about 5 miles southeast on Highway 89 and follow the signs for Fowlers Camp and the McCloud River Loop. You can park at Lower Falls Picnic Area and walk upstream on the McCloud River Trail, passing Fowlers Campground, for about 1.8 miles to the base of Middle Falls. The shorter option is the Middle Falls overlook lot on the paved river loop road, which has restrooms. From there a paved path leads to the rim, and a section of switchbacks and stairs drops into the canyon. Expect to scramble over large boulders for the last stretch to the water.

The pool is big, deep near the falls and edged by piles of volcanic rock rather than sand. The river is fed by springs off Mount Shasta, so the water stays cold all summer, and the pool gets the most use in July and August. Spring snowmelt turns the falls into a roaring wall of whitewater with strong currents in the pool, so most people wait for lower summer flows to swim. There are no lifeguards, and the Forest Service warns that there are no exit structures, that the current can be swift and that diving is not recommended.

There is no fee to visit. Lower Falls Picnic Area is a free day-use site open sunrise to sunset, and the overlook lots on the river loop charge nothing. Fowlers Campground nearby costs $15 a night for a single site, with most sites reserved through Recreation.gov, and is usually open May through October. The Forest Service closes gates on Road 40N44 from November 1 through April 1, so winter visitors may have to park at a gate and walk in.

Middle Falls is a well-known cliff-jumping spot, and the rim above the pool is far higher than it looks from the water. People have been badly hurt slipping off the cliffs here. The basalt around the pool is slick when wet, and the stair section of trail between the base and the overlook is steep with loose rock, so keep children and dogs close. Dogs must be leashed in developed sites. The Forest Service posts closures and fire restrictions for the forest on its alerts page, and it listed no closure for the McCloud falls area in early October 2026.

Most visitors pair Middle Falls with the other two. Lower Falls, about 1.8 trail miles downstream, is a short drop into a pool that is easier to reach and better for families, and Upper Falls, a narrow chute in a gorge upstream, is best seen from its overlook. The McCloud River Trail continues about 15 miles past all three to Algoma Campground, and the river above Middle Falls is home to the native McCloud River redband trout.