La Jolla Canyon Falls (Santa Monica Mountains, California, USA)

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La Jolla Canyon Falls

La Jolla Canyon Falls is another waterfall attraction in Point Mugu State Park nestled within the Santa Monica Mountains (the other waterfall being Sycamore Canyon Falls).

Unfortunately, all three times we visited this waterfall (the upper tier is about 15ft, but there seems to be a slightly taller but harder to reach lower tier), it's been either trickling or almost dry. Our latest failure with the falls followed five consecutive days of El Nino downpours, and the prior attempt a year earlier to that followed three consecutive days of heavy rains.

Given these developments, I'm inclined to believe this is really nothing more than an ephemeral waterfall and probably shouldn't really count as a legitimate waterfall.

Who knows?

Maybe the storms just so happened to miss the La Jolla Canyon drainage though I somehow doubt it given the breadth and longevity of these storms. Or, maybe climate change already killed off the reliability of this waterfall? Anyways, we figured you'll need a year of substantial and sustained rainfall (like the record rains of 2005) in order to revive this waterfall and make it more worth it to pay the $8 day use fee (was $5 when I revised this page a year ago following the 2nd attempt).

Directions: The hike to the falls is only 1.6 miles round trip from the well-signed La Jolla Canyon Trail area right off Pacific Coast Highway between Malibu and Oxnard (about some 30 minutes north of the car park for Escondido Falls). There are signs warning you about ticks, and having been bit by one of these before, I'd recommend you heed the warnings, stay on the trail, tuck your pants in your socks or boots, and do visual inspections with your fellow hikers before getting in your car.

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Looking back down at the falls and pool after a week of sustained heavy rains

All zoomed in on the falls showing there's at least a trickle

Profile view of the pair of tiers that is supposed to be the falls

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TRIP REPORTS

For more information about our experiences with this waterfall, check out the following travel stories.

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