Being residents in the City of Angels, we found that Los Angeles Waterfalls have provided us the main reason to explore the lesser known Nature hidden within reach of where we lived. And after years of visiting most of them, we wanted to share the best 21 waterfalls of the Los Angeles area as well as Orange County that you can hike to and visit in a day.
That said, we definitely had to pay attention to the season’s rainfall to properly time our visits for Winter and Spring considering we have a mostly dry Mediterranean climate. Indeed, the Southern California waterfall season may shrink if we happened to have a dry Winter and/or Spring, but it may expand if we happened to have a wet rainy season. In addition, we also needed to check trail conditions because for one reason or another (e.g. fires, COVID, landslides, etc.), some of these waterfalls may not be accessible due to closures.
Anyways, we only list the waterfall trails residing in the boundaries of Los Angeles County and Orange County. If you wish to explore more waterfall hikes in the Southland than what we reveal on this page, then we have a more encompassing Southern California Waterfalls page. In addition to covering Los Angeles County and Orange County, that page also expands its coverage to include Ventura County, Santa Barbara County, Riverside County, San Bernardino County.
Furthermore, if you want to see the best of our favorite waterfalls throughout the Greater Los Angeles area, we also have a Top 10 Best Southern California Waterfalls page.
Nevertheless, here are 21 of the best Los Angeles and Orange County Waterfalls that we tend to come back to time and again. At the end of this list, we’ve also provided a map showing you where you can find these waterfalls.
FISH CANYON FALLS
Rating: 3 / 5
Difficulty: 4 / 5
Fish Canyon Falls bordered the cities of Duarte and Azusa, and it was our favorite waterfall in Los Angeles County. Although accessing this waterfall tends to be spotty (it used to be controlled by the Vulcan Materials quarrying operation plus it tends to experience severe forest fires in recent years), you’re looking at a 5.2-mile round-trip hike to this four-tiered waterfall. [Read more]
ESCONDIDO FALLS
Rating: 2.5 / 5
Difficulty: 3.5 / 5
Escondido Falls consisted of an attractive 40-50ft lower tier and a hidden 150ft upper tier. It’s probably the best waterfall hike on the Malibu side of the Santa Monica Mountains. Adding to the waterfalls allure, there might be incredible wildflower displays in the Spring though this depends on how much rain we’ve had in the Winter. [Read more]
STURTEVANT FALLS
Rating: 2 / 5
Difficulty: 3 / 5
Sturtevant Falls is one of Los Angeles County’s most popular waterfalls, and as you can see from this photo, there’s a good reason for it. Accessing this 50ft waterfall requires a 3.2-mile round-trip upside-down hike as well as some additional hiking depending on how far down the mountain you have to park. [Read more]
EATON CANYON FALLS
Rating: 2 / 5
Difficulty: 2.5 / 5
Eaton Canyon Falls was another one of the most popular waterfalls in Los Angeles (let alone Southern California as a whole). In addition to featuring a 30+ ft main waterfall, it also has one of the most reliable flows even in drought years! Moreover, parking is plentiful and free, and the three-mile round-trip hike is mostly flat with enough of an adventure towards the end to entertain some of the more restless types. [Read more]
SWITZER FALLS
Rating: 2 / 5
Difficulty: 3.5 / 5
With Switzer Falls, you get to choose how much or how little of its three main drops you want to see. It can be as little as a 3.6-mile round trip hike to experience the 40ft lower waterfall. Or, you can hike a little over 5 miles round-trip to get close to all of the waterfalls, including the 60-70ft main middle drop. And included in all this was some gorgeous mountain scenery of the San Gabriels. [Read more]
TRAIL CANYON FALLS
Rating: 2 / 5
Difficulty: 3.5 / 5
Although the 30-40ft Y-shaped Trail Canyon Falls is popular, it still allowed us to enjoy a somewhat “quieter” (relatively speaking compared to the ones listed above) waterfall experiences in Los Angeles County. We had to earn our visit with a hot and unshaded 4.8-mile round-trip hike including a steep scramble to the base of the falls. [Read more]
FALL CREEK FALLS
Rating: 2 / 5
Difficulty: 4 / 5
This waterfall had been under the radar for years known only to those who explore the more off-the-beaten-path spots within Big Tujunga Canyon. However, now that it seemed to be blowing up since the pandemic outbreak, people are realizing that when it flows (it does have a short season), it has at least three or four drops totaling what I have to believe is over 200ft. While it takes a bit of a rough stream scramble with lots of yucca pricks and poison oak exposure, in my mind, it was the namesake fall colors that really made this waterfall stand out on this list. By the way, we saw the autumn colors in January! [Read more]
JOSEPHINE CREEK FALLS
Rating: 2 / 5
Difficulty: 3 / 5
This tall and nearly 200ft waterfall sat hidden beneath the northwest face of Josephine Peak, and it is still an obscure waterfall. However, it does have a very short and seasonal flow, which is what holds it back. That said, the cliff-hanging adventure to get down to the bottom of this falls was one of the more atmospheric experiences in Big Tujunga Canyon. But if you do decide to seek this place out, you better get over your fear of heights, have good balance, and make sure you have good grip on your hiking boots. [Read more]
BUCKHORN FALLS
Rating: 2 / 5
Difficulty: 3.5 / 5
Buckhorn Falls is kind of a hidden waterfall deep in the Angeles National Forest near Cooper Canyon Falls (another entry on this page). While I had to endure a bit of a rough stream scramble to reach this easy-to-miss 70ft gem, that fact alone ensured that I at least had some time here to myself. [Read more]
BLACK STAR CANYON FALLS
Rating: 1.5 / 5
Difficulty: 4.5 / 5
Of all the waterfalls on this page, the roughly 60ft Black Star Canyon Falls may be the most difficult one to reach. While the roughly 7-mile trail starts off innocently along the Black Star Canyon Road, we’ve found that the boulder-filled stream scramble over the hike’s final mile made this quite the strenuous adventure. That said, I tend to consider it Orange County’s most compelling waterfall. [Read more]
COOPER CANYON FALLS
Rating: 1.5 / 5
Difficulty: 3 / 5
Cooper Canyon Falls sat pretty deep in the Angeles National Forest near Mt Waterman. Its fairly straightforward 4-mile round-trip hike took us by some impressive pine trees in scenery more reminiscent of the Sierras than Los Angeles County. The end of the trail involved a steep scramble in order to get to the bottom of this 40-50ft high waterfall. [Read more]
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HERMIT FALLS
Rating: 1.5 / 5
Difficulty: 3.5 / 5
Even though Hermit Falls shared the same trailhead as Sturtevant Falls (one of the more popular hikes shown on this page), it represented an entirely different experience. Not only did I have to go down a steep and rocky scramble to get to the bottom of the falls, but I also had to look past the bad graffiti to see what was otherwise a pretty and secluded swimming hole. [Read more]
FALLS CANYON FALLS
Rating: 1.5 / 5
Difficulty: 2.5 / 5
Falls Canyon Falls was the official name of this rather elusive 40ft waterfall in Trabuco Canyon. Most of the difficulty of getting to this waterfall had to do with finding it as well as driving the Trabuco Canyon Road. However, once you find the hidden canyon that conceals this waterfall, the rest of the 1.2-mile out-and-back hike was not bad at all. [Read more]
MILLARD FALLS
Rating: 1.5 / 5
Difficulty: 1.5 / 5
When it flows, the roughly 60ft Millard Falls is one of Los Angeles County’s easier-to-reach waterfalls (if its access is open, of course). We’ve had to wait out closures due to floods, mudslides, and fires, but when we can do the 1.2-mile round-trip trail, we get the payoff of getting close to a Y-shaped waterfall with a jumble of boulders wedged at its brink. [Read more]
SOLDIER CREEK FALLS (LEWIS FALLS)
Rating: 1.5 / 5
Difficulty: 2 / 5
Soldier Creek Falls (also called Lewis Falls) was a fairly overlooked 30-50ft waterfall near the Crystal Lake Recreation Area. While its trail was unsigned, perhaps that helps to keep the crowds at bay for the moment, which was incredible considering that it only required a 1.25-mile round-trip hike to reach this intimate waterfall. [Read more]
SANTA YNEZ FALLS
Rating: 1 / 5
Difficulty: 3 / 5
Santa Ynez Falls sat within the expensive (yet fire-prone) hills of Pacific Palisades near the city of Santa Monica. We had to seriously time our adventure to access this very seasonal 15-20ft waterfall. Then, we had to slog through a 2.4-mile round-trip hike that involved numerous creek crossings and boulder scrambles, which made the short hike seem longer than that. But as you can see from the photo above, the payoff was well worth the effort! [Read more]
PLACERITA CREEK FALLS (LOS PINETOS WATERFALL)
Rating: 1 / 5
Difficulty: 2.5 / 5
Of the waterfalls on this list, the seasonal Placerita Creek Falls (also called the Los Pinetos Waterfall) may be one of the more out-of-the-way waterfalls as it’s closer to Six Flags Magic Mountain or even the high deserts of Palmdale than downtown Los Angeles. We earned our visit to this intimate 25ft sloping waterfall with a bit of a stream scramble at the end of its 2.4-mile round trip hike. [Read more]
MONROVIA CANYON FALLS
Rating: 1.5 / 5
Difficulty: 1.5 / 5
The 30ft Monrovia Canyon Falls was perhaps the easiest waterfall to access in Los Angeles County. Its 1.4-mile out-and-back trail was suitable for introducing young kids or newbies to waterfalling, and it’s likely to not disappoint considering that it also has a pretty reliable year-round flow. Perhaps the only hard part about visiting this waterfall was its limited parking once you get into the Monrovia Canyon Park. [Read more]
HOLY JIM FALLS
Rating: 1 / 5
Difficulty: 2.5 / 5
The diminutive 20ft Holy Jim Falls had a bit of a colorful history deep within the rugged Trabuco Canyon. But despite the rough road to access its trailhead, it remains one of Orange County’s most popular waterfall trails. Depending on the amount of water in Trabuco Creek, the numerous stream crossings over its 3.6-mile length could be slow going or a breeze. Regardless, it allowed us to have that rare Nature experience this far south of the Greater Los Angeles area. [Read more]
NEWTON CANYON FALLS
Rating: 1 / 5
Difficulty: 2 / 5
Depending on how much rain the Santa Monica Mountains get, the 25ft Newton Canyon Falls offered a somewhat hidden waterfall surprise right off the Backbone Trail. In addition to its seclusion at the end of its mile-long hike and scramble, it also offered us a chance to see other waterfalls on the same stream like Zuma Falls. [Read more]
SOLSTICE CANYON FALLS
Rating: 1 / 5
Difficulty: 2 / 5
Of the waterfalls sitting on the Malibu side of the Santa Monica Mountains, Solstice Canyon Falls (also called Roberts Ranch Falls) may be the most reliable-flowing waterfall as well as the easiest to reach. Nearly its entire 2-mile trail was essentially a driveway to the remains of the Roberts Ranch. So we even brought our infant daughter in a stroller to this roughly 30ft falls. Moreover, we also happened to witness this waterfall still flowing in August on a low-rainfall year, which attests to its surprising longevity. [Read more]
Map of the Waterfalls in Los Angeles and Orange County
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