This is our favorite day hike around Mackay, and one you probably won’t find in any hiking guide. The walk following Lower Cedar Creek up to a beautiful waterfall is a 15 min. drive and 2 hr return hike from Mackay. You will be hiking up the canyon you can see from the patio, just below Mt McCaleb.

 Turn left at Main St (at the Mine Hill Grill), follow the road out of town, past the cemetery. Look for the brown Forest Service sign for Lower Cedar to your left, about 1 1/2 miles past the cemetery. Take this gravel road (it’s rocky but any AWD car can do it). Cross the little bridge over an irrigation canal on your right and follow the road toward the canyon. You should drop down to the bottom of the canyon. If you take the wrong road, you’ll end up at a hay field. Turn around and try again.

Park at the base of the canyon, next to the river. The trail is well maintained, easy to follow and mostly shaded. Great on a hot day. Follow the river up the canyon and cross at the log “bridge”. Continue up the mountainside. The last 10 minutes is a little steeper, with switchbacks up to the spring water waterfall, pouring out of the rock. It’s a wonderful place for a picnic, under the trees.

 We’ve walked the trail with our kids (3 & 5) in 1 ½ hrs, so it should probably take less than an hour to reach the waterfall.

This river once was used to generate electricity for Mackay and Arco, in the early 1900’s. Look out for remains of the dam, wooden plank pipes, coiled with wire, and the generator in a round steel structure on the side of the trail