Waterfall Hikes

[brian90620]

Hi everyone, I was thinking about doing a waterfall hike this week, and was wondering which is the best one to go too. Which one usually has the best flow, deepest/largest pool, height, and overall best scenory along the way. I was thinking about either Eaton Canyon, Sturtevant Falls, Switzer falls, Fish Canyon Falls, San Antonio Falls, Trail Canyon Falls or the Royal Gorge of the Arroyo Seco. Any info or pictures anyone might have would be greatly appreciated.

[simonov]

Here are 100 photos of a Switzer Falls hike from Saturday, FYI.

[Hikin_Jim]

This falls has a really nice pool: http://www.dankat.com/advents/dvloop.htm
Itsa purty dern good swimin' hole if ya goes in da summah time. I did it as an out and back instead of a loop since I didn't have a shuttle available. It's a work out. Plan on a full day and getting your feet wet. Getting to the base of the falls is class 3, high class 3. It's pretty much vertical, and the rock is crappy. TEST YOUR HAND HOLDS.

For scenic beauty, Lewis Falls on Soldier Creek is a favorite, BUT that area is off limits right now.

Another treasure is Monrovia Canyon Falls in (of all places) Monrovia. Pretty easy hike, but it's a nice falls. You can get info on the City of Monrovia website.

Hermit Falls, just downstream from Sturdevant Falls has 2 or 3 falls (depending on how you count them; I say 3), the lowest of which is pretty impressive. Good swimming holes at the bottom of the 2nd and 3rd falls. Getting to the base of the 3rd falls is a bit of a trick. It's class 4 I think. Definitely not class 3. If you stay high and go up onto of a large rock outcrop that overlooks the falls, you can then go to the side of the rock opposite the falls. From there you should be able to see a small gully. It's a short, easy class 3 scramble (class 2?) to the bottom of the gully. Proceed down the gully. Very shortly after the drop in point, you'll come to a slightly overhung drop off. I'd say it's class 4 here for the actual drop off, and then it eases off a bit but still tricky thereafter. There was a rope tied to a tree when last I was there. With the rope it's a "lead pipe cinch" to get down if you've had any rock experience at all. If you're not into climbing, you might bring 50' (40'?) of rope or webbing just in case that rope is gone.

Millard Falls off of Chaney Trail Drive in Monrovia is nice, albeit short. You can take a hike up the canyon to the old gold mine afterwards.

My personal favorite is Cooper Canyon Falls which is near Buckhorn, but you might get some snow on that hike.

Check out this page for more falls info: http://www.simpsoncity.com/hiking/waterfalls.html

Trail Canyon is nice
Sturdevant is nice
I've never been that impressed with San Antonio Falls, although it should be running well now.
If you just go to the first falls, Eaton Canyon falls is literally a walk in the park
Switzer Falls is a classic if you've never done it. A very nice hike, but frequently the parking is full full full. The best swimming hole is downstream of where the trail meets the creek after you climb around the falls. It has a natural water slide that is fun. The pool at the base of the falls is nice, but it's more of a wading pool than a swimming hole, and there's rockfall (sometimes peoplefall ) danger.

[AW~]

Anne Marie Brown rating of 9
Sturtevant Falls
Trail Canyon Falls
Anne Marie Brown rating of 8
Switzer falls
Fish Canyon Falls
Anne Marie Brown rating of 7
San Antonio Falls
Eaton Canyon

Sturtevant offers the best fit for your criteria IMO, however it is year round, whereas Trail Canyon tapers out by summer.

[Hikin_Jim]

Anne Marie Brown rating of 9
Sturtevant Falls
Trail Canyon Falls
Anne Marie Brown rating of 8
Switzer falls
Fish Canyon Falls
Anne Marie Brown rating of 7
San Antonio Falls
Eaton Canyon

Sturtevant offers the best fit for your criteria IMO, however it is year round, whereas Trail Canyon tapers out by summer.

And not only does the water diminish greatly over the course of the summer, it gets hotter than heck out there. The climb out of the canyon around to the west of the Falls to get to Tom Lucas trail camp and beyond is in the direct sun and is none too pleasant.

It's interesting to me that she rates Trail Canyon as high as Sturdevant. I've always thought that Sturdevant, so green and sylvan, was the nicer of the two. Still, TC is a good falls, very nice, dramatic drop. There's a rock outcrop to the west of the falls that one can walk out on. The outcrop is part of the same block of rock that the falls goes over. When you look over the edge, you're 30 or 40 feet above the falls and since you're on the same block of the rock as the falls goes over, you can see the water go over the falls and shoot out into thin air.

Another falls that I don't think anyone has mentioned is Fish Fork falls. It's over near the Prairie Fork of the San G River. It's a pretty good drop as I recall, and you can't down climb it unless you've got technical climbing gear, but it's a nice spot, and you can crawl out on your belly to the very edge of the falls and stick your head over the edge and watch the water while it's falling. Um, don't do that when the water is high.

[AW~]

Not sure why Trail canyon got a 9, or even Sturvey. I rate waterfalls on a scale of 1-5 stars.

5 stars: Yosemite Falls, lower Yellowstone falls, etc.
4 stars: Feather Falls,etc.
3 stars: I would give the Great Falls of the Fox 3 stars, maybe Im locally biased Other 3 stars would include 'San Gabriel Essential', and Third Stream falls,etc. I would add in some shorter ones like 'Fall Creek extension' as well.
2 stars: Decent ones, there are a number of these. For example, Bonita Falls.
1 star: Most of them. Switzer,Eaton,Trail,etc.

[friendowl]

http://12feetunder.com/bin/13/111/ ------some cool spots

eaton probobly has the best swim hole
also fish canyon was good too

[brian90620]

Hiked to Eaton Canyon Falls with some friends who have never gone hiking before. Immediatly after heading into the canyon we saw a white frog in the creek that nearly blended in with the rocks. When we got to the waterfall we decided to jump in despite the water being ice cold. We all had a lot of fun going in the pool that the waterfall feeds into. We aslo saw a non-poisonous snake that was about 3 feet long along the trail. Overall we had a lot of fun for such a short hike.............Also I had a few questions regarding the falls.........I was watching videos of Eaton Canyon on youtube and people were jumping off the cliffs above the falls and sliding off the falls into the pool below. The pool is currently way too shallow to do either and also it looks like there's a huge rock partially blocking the waterflow so you can't slide down. Has it always been like this or was the rock stratigically placed there so people cannot go off the falls. Also, we searched for a way to get up to the top of the falls but were unsuccessfull, does anyone know the way up there. Thanks

Here are some pictures:http://www.flickr.com/photos/24141711@N ... 186630782/

[HikeUp]

I think that rock has been there for years. Here are some pictures from Rick's trip last year that show the rock.

I've read of people being able to get around the cliffs up to the top of the falls, but have never looked for or found these routes. Here's a picture from Rick's collection showing some people doing some sketchy stuff to get above the falls.

Here is Brennen's description of the area.

If you haven't seen these links before, I hope they help.

[scabourne]

The videos of people sliding Eaton Falls is on the second to last fall. The pool is very deep all the time as long as there is flow. You will have to climb up on canyon left, LUC, to reach the falls. There are two paths up, both are very steep with loose rock. I guess the easier path is 50 yards down from the falls. Once you reach the ridge it is easy to follow it around to drop in above the falls. There is also a handline up top in a sketchy spot that helps. It is worth visiting this upper falls.
Be safe