Canyon Falls

Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park / Big Sur, California, USA

About Canyon Falls

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Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

Canyon Falls was the unfortunate overshadowed neighbor to the gorgeous McWay Falls as they share the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park.

That said, its “unfortunate” location may also be fortunate if one was looking for a relatively peaceful and relaxing waterfall hike away from the commotion further downstream around McWay Cove.

JP_Burns_SP_038_04022015 - Canyon Falls
Canyon Falls

In fact, while McWay Falls gets the lion’s share of social media shares (and the associated crowds that come with it), Julie and I really savored the relative solitude of its less-visited counterpart.

Further adding to the appeal was that since it’s on McWay Creek, Canyon Falls also has a year-round flow, which we could corroborate from a visit in November 2018 after a particularly vicious Dry Season.

Also, the forested setting possessed more of a subtle beauty as opposed to the dramatic scenery seen along the rugged Big Sur Coast.

Nevertheless, I guess the main reason for the lack of fanfare of Canyon Falls was perhaps its rather tiny size, which was probably on the order of 20-30ft.

Accessing Canyon Falls

Julia_Pfeiffer_Burns_SP_010_11172018 - Relatively quiet experience on the trail to Canyon Falls
Relatively quiet experience on the trail to Canyon Falls

The key to visiting Canyon Falls was to walk in the opposite direction of McWay Falls from the parking area (yep, you’re going away from the ocean instead of towards it; see directions below).

Beyond the parking lot, the well-defined trail meandered past a small picnic area with a handful of picnic tables before following McWay Creek amidst a shady coastal forest.

At about 10-15 minutes into the trail, a new bridge traversing McWay Creek made the continuation of the trail a bit easier to follow.

In the past, this was the part where we tended to get confused about where we were supposed to be walking next.

Julia_Pfeiffer_Burns_SP_013_11172018 - The trail to Canyon Falls followed along the perennial McWay Creek
The trail to Canyon Falls followed along the perennial McWay Creek

I’m pretty sure we weren’t alone in our confusion, and perhaps that bridge and re-routing of the trail would reduce the inevitable erosion caused by off-trail scrambling.

There was also a fork where the path continuing further upstream was the Ewoldsen Trail (not the waterfall trail).

Continuing further upstream along McWay Creek’s southeastern banks after a few minutes more, we finally managed to make it to Canyon Falls (roughly a little over a half-mile from the main car park; or one mile return).

I wasn’t sure if the trail kept going beyond the waterfall as it wasn’t obvious to me where it continued, but it did get me right up to the small three-tiered cascade.

Julia_Pfeiffer_Burns_SP_025_11172018 - After the confusing part of the trail (which shouldn't be once they finish the footbridge over McWay Creek), the canyon narrows in as the path gets closer to Canyon Falls
After the confusing part of the trail (which shouldn’t be once they finish the footbridge over McWay Creek), the canyon narrows in as the path gets closer to Canyon Falls

It seemed like the uppermost tiers of Canyon Falls could best seen from further downstream away from the falls as they started to become hidden from view the closer to the falls I had gotten.

In any case, I saw perhaps less than a dozen other people while hiking this trail (contrasting with the hundreds of people sharing the McWay Falls side), which kind of gives you an indication of how peaceful this nature walk was.

As for photographing the falls, it seemed like the best lighting would occur on a cloudy day.

Our 2015 visit was under clear blue skies late in the afternoon so the sporadic shadows from the forest kind of made taking satisfactory pictures rather difficult.

Julia_Pfeiffer_Burns_SP_031_11172018 - Closeup view of Canyon Falls under the even lighting of a marine layer
Closeup view of Canyon Falls under the even lighting of a marine layer

Our 2018 visit was under marine layer overcast skies, which yielded the more satisfying even lighting.

Authorities

Canyon Falls resides in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park in Big Sur in Monterey County, California. It is administered by the California Department of Parks and Recreation. For more information, questions, and current conditions, you can check out their website.

Maps and Routing Content are for annual subscribers. See Membership Options.
Content is for subscribers. See Membership Options.
Tagged with: big sur, monterey, bay area, central coast, california, waterfall, julia pfeiffer burns, ventana, ewoldsen trail



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Julia Pfeiffer Burns SP March 22, 2010 8:16 pm by Ron Andrews - The Canyon Trail was closed last summer when we visited, but there were still some small waterfalls upstream from McWay Falls that I could get to. ...Read More

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Johnny Cheng

About Johnny Cheng

Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
Read More About Johnny | A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls.