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Sycamore Canyon Falls

Sycamore Canyon Falls


Sycamore Canyon Falls sits in Point Mugu State Park, which itself resides in the Santa Monica Mountains on the Thousand Oaks side.

Both times we've visited this falls, it was a very popular (read: crowded) attraction. But given that the 2.4- or 2.6-mile (depends on where you start from) trail to the falls goes by the Satwiwa Native America Natural Area, offers nice panoramic views at the Hidden Valley basin, offers views of exposed rocks atop the neighboring mountains, and passes through a protected wilderness area, it's fairly easy to see why it's so popular.

The falls cascades in multiple tiers for a cumulative height of around 50- to 75ft (and this is just a WAG). We saw numerous groups scramble on the slippery rocks to the top.

We also reckoned this might be more of a morning waterfall if the sun's out because we were looking right against it on our last visit in late January at around midday.

Lots of people climb to the top of the fallsThe first time we visited the falls was during New Years Day during a dry winter so obviously we were disappointed that it was hardly flowing. I guess the falls is at its most impressive after sustained rainfall, but I'd imagine it doesn't last for a very long time afterwards (give it a couple of weeks or so of dry spells following rain depending on how heavy the rainfall was).

Given the sometimes confusing criss-crossing of intersecting trails, the key landmark to pay attention to (as you're looking for the correct spur trail to get to the falls) is the water tank just beyond the Point Mugu sign on the paved fire road. There are actually two trails (on either side of the creek) leading from the Water Tank to the falls. The first one follows the Danielson Road to the Old Boney Trail before dropping down to the creek. The second one branches a little further on the fire road and more or less follows the creek all the way to the falls (intersecting with the first trail mentioned above).

Directions: To access the trailhead, take US101 towards Newbury Park. From there, look for the Wendy Drive exit south towards Potrero Road. Then, take this road into the park entrance on your left (on Sycamore Canyon Drive), where you'll find the car park near the Satwiwa Natural Area. However, if the lot's full or you don't want to risk calling any bluffs regarding any signage discouraging parking there, then there's a large pullout area by the Wendy Drive and Potrero Road intersection right across the road from the church. This path may increase your hiking length by 0.2 miles, but I doubt you'll notice that much of a difference.

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How the falls looked the last time we visited back in the 2001-2002 timeframeHow the falls looked the last time we visited back in the 2001-2002 timeframe

Muddy trail after the weeklong saturation of El Nino rainsMuddy trail after the weeklong saturation of the El Nino rains

Nice panoramas of the Hidden Valley basin along the Old Boney Trail sectionNice panoramas of the Hidden Valley basin along the Old Boney Trail section

We weren't kidding when we said this waterfall's popularWe weren't kidding when we said this waterfall's popular


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