Dana Point Waterfall

Dana Point / San Juan Capistrano, California, USA

About Dana Point Waterfall

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Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

The Dana Point Waterfall (or Dana Point Falls) was something we weren’t really made aware of until recently when it popped up on one of the Orange County blogs.

Perhaps part of the reason why this place was so unknown to all but locals or those familiar with the Dana Point area was that this was a very temporary or ephemeral waterfall.

Dana_Point_Waterfall_019_01222017 - Contextual view of the Dana Point Waterfall
Contextual view of the Dana Point Waterfall

In other words, if you weren’t here in the middle of a storm with heavy rainfall, you’re not likely to see this waterfall flow.

Julie experienced this firsthand when it was raining in Los Angeles County, but when she showed up to this part of southern Orange County about an hour or two after leaving home, the falls was merely trickling.

It wasn’t until two weeks later when we were here in the middle of a fairly nasty rain storm that we finally got to see this waterfall in a state that you see in the photo above.

Indeed, this rain storm caused lots of local street flooding and people hydroplaning on the freeways so it was certainly quite the adventure even though this was a roadside waterfall.

Dana_Point_Waterfall_010_01092017 - Looking up at the Dana Point Waterfall that was hardly flowing despite us being here a few hours removed from the passing of the last rain storm
Looking up at the Dana Point Waterfall that was hardly flowing despite us being here a few hours removed from the passing of the last rain storm

Nevertheless, even if the falls wasn’t flowing, this little “oasis” was well-situated near the Dana Point Harbor beneath cliffs where expensive homes were perched above.

It was the kind of scene that we might have encountered further up the coast in Malibu, but here we were south of Laguna Beach in the scenic coastal suburb of Dana Point.

Visiting the Dana Point Waterfall

The Dana Point Waterfall was pretty much right off the road across the street from a park on the harbor front.

The falls itself was fronted by palm trees with the whitish and brown cliffs adding to the scenic allure of this spot.

Dana_Point_Waterfall_009_01222017 - The Dana Point Waterfall in rare high-flowing form in the midst of some heavy rains
The Dana Point Waterfall in rare high-flowing form in the midst of some heavy rains

Yet even despite the lack of physical exertion required to experience the Dana Point Waterfall, we do have to reiterate the catch-22 nature of this excursion.

Indeed, in order to see this falls perform, the timing has to coincide with heavy rain, which means braving the accident-prone driving conditions on the freeways and local streets.

The slippery conditions, and especially the likelihood of hydroplaning, must be respected.

In addition to the bad driving conditions, the waterfall itself was composed of suburban runoff from the community above the cliff.

Dana_Point_Waterfall_017_01092017 - Contextual look across the street towards the trickling Dana Point Waterfall with some folks loitering around the plunge pool, which was fine at this time since there was hardly much bacteria-laced spray at the base
Contextual look across the street towards the trickling Dana Point Waterfall with some folks loitering around the plunge pool, which was fine at this time since there was hardly much bacteria-laced spray at the base

Thus, the water would be bacteria-laced under stormy conditions, and we could certainly smell the refuse when we finally got to see this place in person.

Of course, under more benign conditions, the falls would be no more than a trickle so you definitely have to take the good with the bad with this one.

Just to give you an idea of how quickly this waterfall’s flow diminishes, we did make a third visit in between episodes of rain a few years later, and we saw the flow well on its way to trickling without another episode of rain in another hour or two.

As a result, given the ephemeral nature of the Dana Point Waterfall, I would marginally count this as a legitimate waterfall.

Dana_Point_Waterfall_006_04102020 - The Dana Point Waterfall in between episodes of rain, which shows just how quickly the waterflow diminishes
The Dana Point Waterfall in between episodes of rain, which shows just how quickly the waterflow diminishes

However, it was the scenic allure and oceanfront location that sort of gave this falls the benefit of the doubt.

So instead of a 0.5 or lower score, we opted to bump the score of this falls up to 1.

But as stated before, timing was everything with experiencing the spectacle of the falls.

Authorities

The Dana Point Waterfall resides in the city of Dana Point in Orange County, California. It is administered by the city government of Dana Point. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website.

Maps and Routing Content are for annual subscribers. See Membership Options.
Content is for subscribers. See Membership Options.
Tagged with: dana point, dana pt, san juan capistrano, orange county, dana point harbor, waterfall



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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.