American Falls also known as Upper Priest River Falls is located on the Upper Priest River approximately 1 - 1.5 miles south of the Canadian Border. To get there. From Priest River, ID, head north on Hwy 57 toward Priest Lake about 36 mi. to Nordman. Continue north on Road 302 the continuation of Hwy. 57. The road will turn into a dirt road just north of Nordman. Follow approximately 14 mi. to the junction with Road 1013. Continue on 1013 approximately 11 mi. to the lower trail head #308 on the left side of the Rd. or keep going on to the shorter #28 Trail, also on the left side. After the lower trail you will begin to climb the mountain, it is about a 35.5 mile drive from Nordman to the upper trail. This trail is also the end of the Rd. (See additional waypoints for the trail heads.)
This is a long drive and a very nice hike that will take some time, so plan on starting early, packing a lunch and some snacks or camping out. There are several primitive campsites along the river near the cache location and several more along the road on the way up. Muskegon lake, the Shoe Tree and at the upper priest river bridge, are just a few notable ones. The drive to the upper trail #28 is quite spectacular. Even if planning to hike from the lower trail, I recommend driving the extra few miles to the top just for the views! From the Rd. and the listed coordinates, if you look north up the canyon you will see a white spot that looks alot like snow, this is actually Priest Falls or also known as Canadian Falls. Bring binoculars and check out the view. The Upper Priest River Trail #308 is an approximately 8-9 mile hike up the drainage to the falls, Continental Trail #28 is a 2.5 mile hike down the mountain on a relatively gradual trail that switch backs several times down the steep hillside, after about 1.5 miles it converges with the lower trail and is about another mile up to the falls. The cache is a regular sized, olive green ammo container located near the last campsite by the falls. You can see the falls from here but will have to climb over one more small embankment or skirt the rocks to get to the pool. The cache is loaded with american themed items and a small booklet of the declaration of independance, which I'd prefer to stay with the cache for all to enjoy. So bring something of the Red, White and Blue nature to trade or leave behind. There is also a couple of traveling items and a prize for the FTF.
This cache is only reachable during the summer months from about june through october, give or take a little. Please rehide the cache well so that it doesn't get muggled, there are a fair amount of people that make this hike in the summer months, and it is a long way to replace it.
Note: Yes, this is Bear Country, both black and grizzly. Make sure dogs are on a leash and bring bear spray. Although I have not seen a grizzly right here in this genreral area, I have seen tracks and have seen them to the south east aways. I have seen several black bears up in this area over the years. Side note: I also haven't discovered any sign of Sasquatch (Bigfoot) as of yet, but I am pretty sure there might be a few in the area, so keep your eyes open.