Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Visit Big Falls, the tallest waterfall in the San Bernardino Mountains-- if not in all of Southern California.

The day begins bright and clear. The springtime sun vaults into the sky over drifts of freshly fallen snow on San Bernardino Mountain's sunny south side and begins to melt them. Gravity pulls the tiny drips of water across and down through the white, crystalline mazes of ice. Many drips combine into narrow rivulets on the mountain's flank. Small trickles join forces, and the sum of their flows combines again into a silvery stream rushing headlong toward the south. Gathering strength, the waters of the stream -- Falls Creek -- rush through a narrow chasm, pitch forward, and transform themselves into a feathery veil of water racing willy nilly over a series of precipices known as Big Falls.

Whether Big Falls is the highest waterfall in all of Southern California is subject to argument, though it is quite fair to call it the tallest of easily accessible cascades. Barely 15 minutes' walk from a paved parking lot gets you to a viewpoint just below the base of the falls. After this season's less-than-normal rainfall, the falls won't exactly be thundering, but they may be impressive nonetheless, at least for the next few weeks.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The trailhead lies near the east end (dead end) of Valley of the Falls Boulevard (a.k.a. Forest Home Road), just east of the cabin community of Forest Falls. Valley of the Falls Boulevard intersects State Highway 38 at a point 6.2 miles east of the San Bernardino National Forest's Mill Creek Station and 14 miles east of Redlands. Note that all vehicles parked at the trailhead must have a National Forest Adventure Pass ($5 per day, or $30 yearly) posted on them. The passes are widely available at ranger stations and general stores along the driving route in.

On the trail you immediately head north across the wide, boulder-tossed bed of Mill Creek. Make your way across this slight obstacle course and reach the far side. There you swing left and begin a steep but short climb up the east slope of Falls Canyon leading to an overlook about 200 yards below the cascading water. Stay on the trail. Do not attempt to climb the falls; several people have been killed or injured trying to do just that.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Reader 1st place writing contest winner gets kudos

2nd place winner not so much

The day begins bright and clear. The springtime sun vaults into the sky over drifts of freshly fallen snow on San Bernardino Mountain's sunny south side and begins to melt them. Gravity pulls the tiny drips of water across and down through the white, crystalline mazes of ice. Many drips combine into narrow rivulets on the mountain's flank. Small trickles join forces, and the sum of their flows combines again into a silvery stream rushing headlong toward the south. Gathering strength, the waters of the stream -- Falls Creek -- rush through a narrow chasm, pitch forward, and transform themselves into a feathery veil of water racing willy nilly over a series of precipices known as Big Falls.

Whether Big Falls is the highest waterfall in all of Southern California is subject to argument, though it is quite fair to call it the tallest of easily accessible cascades. Barely 15 minutes' walk from a paved parking lot gets you to a viewpoint just below the base of the falls. After this season's less-than-normal rainfall, the falls won't exactly be thundering, but they may be impressive nonetheless, at least for the next few weeks.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The trailhead lies near the east end (dead end) of Valley of the Falls Boulevard (a.k.a. Forest Home Road), just east of the cabin community of Forest Falls. Valley of the Falls Boulevard intersects State Highway 38 at a point 6.2 miles east of the San Bernardino National Forest's Mill Creek Station and 14 miles east of Redlands. Note that all vehicles parked at the trailhead must have a National Forest Adventure Pass ($5 per day, or $30 yearly) posted on them. The passes are widely available at ranger stations and general stores along the driving route in.

On the trail you immediately head north across the wide, boulder-tossed bed of Mill Creek. Make your way across this slight obstacle course and reach the far side. There you swing left and begin a steep but short climb up the east slope of Falls Canyon leading to an overlook about 200 yards below the cascading water. Stay on the trail. Do not attempt to climb the falls; several people have been killed or injured trying to do just that.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Croome Brothers Trio, Jack Tempchin, Ricky, Swami & the Bed Of Nails, Kahlil Nash

Acoustic and electric in Del Mar, La Jolla, Little Italy, and City Heights
Next Article

Reader 1st place writing contest winner gets kudos

2nd place winner not so much
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.