When it’s got a good flow going, Trail Canyon Falls makes a strong case for the most impressive waterfall near Los Angeles. The surrounding Wildwood Park also has some of the most interesting and varied landscapes in the region, ranging from majestic mesas to sweeping meadows, miniature forests of cactus and coastal scrub, and even caves. The canyon is cool and shaded, and the runoff has revitalized a beautiful riparian corridor along a branch of the Arroyo Conejo. While it is extremely inadvisable to go swimming in the pool below Paradise Falls, it’s still a lovely place to visit. Con: It’s flowing because the cascade is mostly untreated urban runoff.īut hey, in this climate, we make do with what we can. Pro: even in the hottest, driest months, Paradise Falls remains flowing. A tougher climb to the Upper Falls is also available, but it’s an unmaintained and unofficial route that should only be attempted by those with climbing or scrambling experience, and definitely not by those wearing flip flops or tennis shoes. The 4-mile out-and-back is generally pretty mild, although you will have to hop the creek bed a few times and should expect some mud if it’s recently rained. But when we’ve got some water in the region, it’s an even more lovely ribbon of bridal-veil white, gently falling into a picturesque pool at the base. Even when it’s dry, the slow trickle of this cascade flows down a section of rock that looks like melted candle wax covered in ferns, revealing hidden caves and caverns. The tallest waterfall in the Santa Monica Mountains is a truly beautiful sight. To see the falls head-on, you’ll have to get creative with your scrambling and boulder-hopping or just take your boots off and wade a bit, but it’s a terrific journey! Escondido Falls This route has plenty of stream crossings, so wear waterproof boots or be OK with getting your feet wet - and watch out for the plentiful poison oak along the trail. Located inside Topanga State Park but closer to the Pacific Palisades than that rustic-fancy canyon, the hike to Santa Ynez Falls is a fun 2.4 mile out-and-back through shaded oak and sycamore forest to a hidden cascade tucked into a narrow, rocky canyon. That said - here are some of our favorite waterfall hikes near Los Angeles: Santa Ynez Falls These canyons are prone to destructive and unpredictable flash flooding, and a downpour dozens of miles away can send a wall of water into these narrow canyons in a matter of minutes. Under no circumstances should you hike these trails during a rainstorm. Leaving that time will let some of the mud dry on the trails, but it’s also a safety issue - because most of our rain events here are of the feast-or-famine variety, you’ll want to let some of the water drain out of the canyons before you hike in them. For the full effect, you’ll want to head out to these falls 48 hours or so after a solid rain storm. While most of these waterfalls do run year-round, they are best visited between January and May (or later, if we’ve had a good El Niño year). If you trek out to one of these cascades in August expecting to see something like Vernal or Multnomah Falls, you’re going to be sorely disappointed - but taken on their own and visited at the right time, these waterfall hikes will delight and maybe even make you fall in love with our special landscape. So yes, we do have waterfalls here, but you have to treat them a little differently than you would waterfalls in other, wetter parts of the country. region gets just under 15 inches of rain a year. Visitors, travelers, and newly transplanted Angelenos from other parts of the country often mistake the summer-brown landscape and months of drizzle-free days for a desert climate, but on average the L.A.
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