Darwin Falls
Darwin Falls is said to be a rare year-round waterfall in Death Valley National Park, which is one of the driest places on earth. Technically, Death Valley is not in the Southern and Central Sierras of California, but it's close enough (a couple hours of driving) east of the Hwy 395 that I've included it here. From the trailhead, you walk up the wash and follow the trail (sometimes faint with a few scrambling areas) until you get to the main 30ft falls. The wash initially starts off pretty wide and exposed to the sun, but the canyon quickly narrows as the trail is less exposed to the sun. We even started to see toads as we got closer to the year-round creek. Overall the round trip distance for the out-and-back hike is under 2 miles. I understand there are cascades further upstream of the main falls, but that would involve more nontrivial scrambling beyond the official trail. We didn't do it so I can't comment further on that. [Back to top]  Julie hiking in the wide open wash The canyon walls close in the further you go A toad sitting in the pond A toad floating in the cool pond Julie heading back to the carView World of Waterfalls in a larger map TRIP REPORTSGUIDEBOOKS / OTHER RESOURCESNEARBY WATERFALLSHave You Been To This Waterfall?
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| First, thanks for this cool website its nice to know about hidden gems in our backyard. We went on May 24th, 2008 and had the pleasure of seeing a running stream all the way...[more] |
| We would climb up the falls along the crevice to the left of the falls all the way up then over to the chute to the left of the falls and run down the gravel chute...[more] |
| This hike is AMAZING! I was happy going through this trail with a few friends as it was quite pretty.The road up is a long one and there were...[more] |
| Glad to know there are waterfall lovers like myself. I am enjoying the website. I thought I would post to you a picture of a waterfall in California that is...[more] |
| I was so surprised not to see the Three Sisters Waterfall in Descanso, CA (San Diego County) on your list & then remembered it's a fairly well kept secret...[more] |
| I absolutely loved the scenery of this whole hike and destination. It was very confusing to get there and we had to make a few U-Turns, but it was definitely worth...[more] |
| About a year ago, I was given a newspaper article describing these hidden falls in Orange County. The article itself did not specify the exact location, so I did some hunting online...[more] |
| Here is what I can only assume is called "Emerald Falls" just north of Filmore in Southern California. (In Los Padres National Forest) I think it is hands down...[more] |
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