McWay Falls

McWay Falls is easily the most beautifully situated waterfall on the

The falls is situated in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. Once at the car park (there's a $10 fee as of our last visit in 2010; see directions below for getting to the car park), you can take a 1/4-mile very gentle walk through a tin tunnel, which opens out to the ocean on the other side where the dramatic scene unfolds.

As you continue along the path, look to your left over the cliffs and towards the cove, and you'll start to see the lovely falls spilling onto a beach shortly before it joins the ocean (note that some people consider this waterfall to be a tidefall because it more-or-less falls directly into the ocean).

The trail continues towards the site of the Waterfall House ruins. There's not much here anymore except some additional coastal views between trees.

Although we've seen footprints on the sand in that cove below, the scramble to get down there is very steep and the cliffs are unstable. We've never done it and we certainly don't recommend it. In fact, there was even a landslide here that made McWay Falls spill onto a beach instead of directly into the ocean several decades ago.

If you're up for some more exploring in the area, you can also visit Canyon Falls whose trail begins on the opposite side of the day use car park.

Finally, if you're not up for parking in the lot that requires the hefty day use fee, we've noticed some people park at some pullouts before the bridge over McWay Creek. Then, there's an trail on the opposite side of Hwy 1 and ultimately joins the main walkway right at the end of the tin tunnel.

Whether or not you decide to do the falls this way, keep in mind that it's near a blind turn (heading north). We nearly hit a guy who pulled out right in front of us as we turned that corner heading north. So northbound drivers, those getting back on the road from that pullout, and walkers crossing the highway really need to be cognizant of the hazard here!

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Sunset at McWay Falls. Can it get any better than this?

We didn't recall seeing this arched treeway on our previous visits, but it's cool nonetheless

Contextual view of the walkway and falls

How the falls looked some 7 years ago

Closeup of McWay Falls from 7 years past

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Bottom up sweep of the falls starting at the beach and fixated on the falls itself


Left to right sweep starting at the falls and ending at the setting sun (with a little camera artifact from light saturation coming from the sun)

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TRIP REPORTS

• March 18, 2010

GUIDEBOOKS / OTHER RESOURCES

NEARBY WATERFALLS

• Canyon Falls
• Castro Canyon Waterfall
• Pfeiffer Falls
• Limekiln Falls
• Salmon Creek Falls

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