There aren’t any signs pointing to it. There’s not even a sign once you get to it – but you’ll know by all the pickup trucks parked by the roadside. It’s like a swimming hole out of the 1940s; no sidewalks, warning signs or railing to keep people from hurting themselves. This is a swim, dive and run at-your-own risk sort of place – complete with trash and graffiti.
Bluestem Falls, about 4.5 miles northwest of Pawhuska, Oklahoma lies just below Bluestem Reservoir. It’s water volume fluctuates with the release rates from the reservoir but judging by the rock formations I’d say there was a waterfall here before the reservoir was created in 1958 by damming Middle Bird Creek. Middle Bird Creek becomes Bird Creek which flows by Redbud Valley Nature Preserve about 50 miles southeast near Tulsa.
We parked our car on the side of the road near a guardrail that serves as the entrance to the falls area. Walking towards the whoops and hollers of teenagers we crossed 40 feet of pooled water holes to the edge of the surprisingly large falls that dropped off into a basin. The teenagers were jumping off of a sandstone ledge that protruded a few feet over a pool. On the opposite side of the pool was another ledge that swimsuit-clad children and teenagers were jumping off of after getting a running start. Around the pool about 15-feet below us were about 30 parents in lawn chairs keeping one eye on their children and the other on each other. A few of the larger adults were floating in Middle Bird Creek past the rapids below the pool.
I sat down on a ledge halfway down the cliff to take in the scene and get some photos while Sim looked for edible plants in the scrub oak woods around the creek. I sat there for at least an hour enjoying the sight of falling water and happy kids. I wondered how many people have been injured on these rocks and marveling that no authorities had moved in to put a stop to this insurance liability. Thank goodness they haven’t.
Before you head out to Bluestem Falls in the afternoon have lunch at The Pioneer Woman Mercantile (the Merc) in downtown Pawhuska. This is the restaurant and shop run by Ree and Ladd Drummond of The Pioneer Woman on the Food Network fame: https://www.themercantile.com/
Here’s more on The Merc from Country Living: https://www.countryliving.com/life/travel/a44201/visit-pioneer-woman-mercantile/
After lunch walk or drive 4 blocks south on Kihekah Avenue to the swinging bridge over Bird Creek. As of 2020 some of the planks were a bit rotten but I made it across twice!
The Details
To get to Bluestem Falls, follow Kihekah Avenue north from the center of Pawhuska until you reach County Road 4070. Turn left on 4070 and go three miles until you come to a fork in the road. Take the left fork and continue until you reach a bend in the road with a guardrail. If it’s on the weekend or during the summer you’ll see pickup trucks and cars parked near the entrance to the falls.
Recommended Reading:
Granger Meador has an interesting blogpost about the geology of Bird Creek and the declining communities of Osage County here: https://meador.org/2017/03/13/bluestem-lake-bird-creek-school/
Ashley has some great photos of the falls over at Onlyinyourstate.com at: https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/oklahoma/hidden-waterfall-ok/
