Trail Canyon Falls

Angeles National Forest / Tujunga / Sunland, California, USA

About Trail Canyon Falls

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Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

Trail Canyon Falls was certainly one of the prettier and more unique waterfalls that we’ve seen in the mountains of Los Angeles County (let alone the Southern California area).

In fact, it once made an appearance on our Top 10 Best Southern California Waterfalls List, and we often waver when it comes to putting this waterfall back in that exclusive list.

Trail_Canyon_Falls_193_02082020 - Trail Canyon Falls
Trail Canyon Falls

Each time we’ve seen this 30-40ft waterfall (I’ve also seen it reported to be 50ft tall), it featured a Y-shaped flow that made it very pretty.

It almost kind of reminded us of how Millard Falls can look when it has a healthy flow.

Nevertheless, sometimes rewards or victories are made sweeter when there’s uncertainty in the outcome of an adventure, and it certainly felt that way with this one.

To even get the view you see in the photo above, we had to earn it with a bit of a moderate 4.8-mile round trip hike with lots of sun exposure and capped off with a harrowing scramble.

Trail_Canyon_Falls_147_02082020 - View of Trail Canyon Falls before the scramble to its base
View of Trail Canyon Falls before the scramble to its base

Given that this waterfall resided in a seemingly drier part of the San Gabriel Mountains, it had also seen its share of fires, which had historically prevented us from revisiting Trail Canyon Falls for several years at a time.

Case in point, this happened with us when the 2009 Station Fire closed the Trail Canyon Falls Trail, and we wound up going nearly 11 years between visits (from 2002 and 2013).

Knock on wood, all these things seemed to have made this waterfall a relatively quieter (but still popular, especially after COVID-19) experience compared to the very busy Los Angeles waterfalls further to the east (like Eaton Canyon Falls and Sturtevant Falls among others).

Moreover, as you’ll see in the directions below, unlike the other local waterfalls we normally find neighboring the 210 Freeway, this one was a bit further west, which made it seem a little more out-of-the-way for us.

Hiking to Trail Canyon Falls – Longer Hike Than Before

Trail_Canyon_Falls_020_02082020 - With the locking of the gates right off the Big Tujunga Road, we now had to walk the North Trail Canyon Road instead of driving this stretch to the Day Use Parking
With the locking of the gates right off the Big Tujunga Road, we now had to walk the North Trail Canyon Road instead of driving this stretch to the Day Use Parking

In the past, we used to be able to park the car and start hiking from the day use parking area roughly 0.4 miles off the Big Tujunga Canyon Road.

However, recently, a locked gate prevents access to this day use parking area as only the authorities and residents remaining within the Trail Canyon area have the means of driving there now.

This means that we now had to hike the narrow and unpaved North Trail Canyon Road, which increased the overall hiking distance by 0.8 miles to about 4.8 miles round trip.

We used to report that the Trail Canyon Falls hike was about 4 miles round trip.

Trail_Canyon_Falls_024_02082020 - The initial part of the walk to the Trail Canyon Falls Day Use Parking climbed up to this junction with the Gold Canyon Trail
The initial part of the walk to the Trail Canyon Falls Day Use Parking climbed up to this junction with the Gold Canyon Trail

Although we found this extra hiking to be fairly short, it did involve some climbing (both going there as well as coming back) as we had to ascend to the junction with the Gold Canyon Road.

In addition, we also had to deal with the nearly constant sun exposure, which would become a persistent aspect of nearly the entirety of this hike.

Hiking to Trail Canyon Falls – Beyond The Day Use Parking Area

Once we got to the former parking area and trailhead, we followed a sign labeled “trail” that went to another gate next to some National Forest Day Use sign.

After passing the gate, we found ourselves on a fairly wide access road, which forded the typically shallow Trail Canyon Creek as well as passing between a few cabins or homes that appeared to be built after 2002 (something I don’t recall seeing during my first hike to Trail Canyon Falls that year).

Trail_Canyon_Falls_032_02082020 - Julie and Tahia going past this shallow creek crossing by ones of the private properties next to the old Trail Canyon Falls Day Use Parking Area
Julie and Tahia going past this shallow creek crossing by ones of the private properties next to the old Trail Canyon Falls Day Use Parking Area

We then passed by one of the homes that appeared to have survived the fires here before following along the Golden Creek towards another trail junction near the foundation of what would have been the last cabin (only chimneys are left of it now).

Keeping right at this junction (there may or may not be a “trail” sign or other waterfall signs directing us), the trail continued to gently climb along the creek on a narrower footpath unsuitable for vehicles.

The trail proceeded to meander alongside a canyon wall before descending towards a small creek crossing just past a giant boulder.

From there, the path climbed briefly before flattening out at a series of a handful of creek crossings over Golden Creek.

Trail_Canyon_Falls_055_02082020 - Tahia and Julie crossing one of a handful of traverses of Golden Creek
Tahia and Julie crossing one of a handful of traverses of Golden Creek

Each time we’ve done this hike, we didn’t have too much difficulty staying dry on these crossings, and it seemed like some people even strategically laid out logs to make it even easier to avoid getting wet.

That said, if the creek happened to have higher flow, then I could easily imagine these crossings to be much more difficult and slower going (a scenario realized when we visited after an unusual snow storm in early 2023).

After the last of the crossings, Trail Canyon seemed to open up again for a brief stretch before the trail started to climb and cling onto the canyon’s west wall.

Before the trail curved and clung onto the canyon’s west wall contours, there was a small and usually poison-oak overgrown side gully leading to a secluded seasonal waterfall (which only flows immediately after heavy rain) that most people ignore.

Trail_Canyon_Falls_099_02082020 - The sun-exposed climb on the west wall of Trail Canyon. We had to climb up to towards the bare cliff you see in the upper middle part of this photograph
The sun-exposed climb on the west wall of Trail Canyon. We had to climb up to towards the bare cliff you see in the upper middle part of this photograph

Anyways, there wasn’t much shade in this stretch of trail, especially given the ghostly remnants of bare trees juxtaposed with newly growing foliage (thanks to damage from the Station Fire).

Indeed, we found this mile-long part of the Trail Canyon Falls hike to be both the hottest and most strenuous given the combination of sun exposure and elevation gain.

Just to give you an idea of how hot it can get here, we saw people struggling in this stretch even in early February on a sunny day as I suspected they didn’t bring adequate water or underestimated the hike or a combination of both.

Over the years, we’ve seen this trail evolve given its history of fires and soil de-stabilization, because after a fire would burn off the soil-stabilizing vegetation, we’d find badly eroded and washed out sections of this climbing trail.

Trail_Canyon_Falls_124_02082020 - Looking back down at Trail Canyon from the top of the tiring sun-exposed ascent
Looking back down at Trail Canyon from the top of the tiring sun-exposed ascent

On the other hand, it seemed like this trail got a fair bit of maintenance on it, especially with fencing and railings to try to stabilize the ground holding up the path (which seemed to be in good shape again as of 2020 and 2022).

As we climbed higher, we had plenty of opportunities to look back at Trail Canyon and its wrinkly V-shaped contour, where such photo ops definitely helped us to break up the monotony of the moderately steep uphill hiking.

Eventually, the climb flattened out as the trail rounded a long bend, which coincided with the canyon walls closing in once again.

Beyond this bend, we finally started to see the Trail Canyon Falls in the distance as it sat nestled in its shadowy ravine making for some tricky lighting in our photos.

Trail_Canyon_Falls_277_02082020 - The full context of Trail Canyon Falls, where the waterfall sat in partial shadow towards the bottom of the photograph
The full context of Trail Canyon Falls, where the waterfall sat in partial shadow towards the bottom of the photograph

In the past, the falls was surrounded by trees though we would still be able to see most of the falls on the approach.

However, after the Station Fire, we could see that the trees conspiring to block our view were prickly and bare thereby revealing more of the waterfall as seen from the main trail.

Nevertheless, if you are risk averse and have no desire to do any scrambling to improve the experience, then this view of Trail Canyon Falls was perhaps as satisfying as it gets.

The Bottom of Trail Canyon Falls

The main trail continued to skirt above the ravine containing Trail Canyon Falls as it would eventually approach the top of the waterfall and continue further upstream.

Trail_Canyon_Falls_258_02082020 - The start of the steep scramble to the bottom of Trail Canyon Falls began in the opening through the bush that you see towards the bottom of this photo
The start of the steep scramble to the bottom of Trail Canyon Falls began in the opening through the bush that you see towards the bottom of this photo

However, before the trail went that far, there was an unmarked detour that descended steeply towards the edge of the gorge and ultimately to the base of Trail Canyon Falls.

This “trail” was both steep and slippery due to loose dirt and persistent erosion from people making this scramble.

As a matter of fact, during this descent, we noticed remnants of old railings lying haphazardly downslope from the main trail.

Since such railings used to act as a sort of marker letting me know where I could start scrambling to the bottom back in 2002 when I first did this hike, this kind of indicated to me how much erosion had taken place over the years.

Trail_Canyon_Falls_153_02082020 - The steep and slippery descent from the main trail towards the edge of the gorge containing Trail Canyon Falls
The steep and slippery descent from the main trail towards the edge of the gorge containing Trail Canyon Falls

So who knows how much longer this scrambling path may last before someone decides to blaze a different “trail”?

Anyways, this scramble ultimately brought us to the rim of the gorge, where we then continued to hike further downstream until we encountered a dry gully.

This steep gully ultimately led us down to the creek, but we had to exercise a lot of care in order to minimize the chances of a bad fall.

Just to give you an idea of the steepness of this gully, someone had set up some ropes to make this descent a little easier, but I don’t think the forest service sanctions the use of the ropes (they could choose to cut them given they could give at any moment).

Trail_Canyon_Falls_237_02082020 - This was the steepest part of the descent to the bottom of Trail Canyon Falls so it's understandable why people have set up unsanctioned ropes here for a bit of a mental boost
This was the steepest part of the descent to the bottom of Trail Canyon Falls so it’s understandable why people have set up unsanctioned ropes here for a bit of a mental boost

In any case, we didn’t think the ropes were necessary as the “sit-and-scoot” maneuver was sufficient for us, but the ropes did provide an additional confidence-booster for those inclined to use them.

Once we made it to the bottom, then we hiked back upstream towards the bottom of the Trail Canyon Falls, which was where we got the photo you see at the top of this page.

By the way, during my first hike to Trail Canyon Falls back in 2002, I never recalled going this way to the bottom of the waterfall.

I’d imagine that the Station Fire had something to do with the route change as certain trees and roots were no longer reliable things to hold onto.

The Brink of Trail Canyon Falls

Trail_Canyon_Falls_272_02082020 - Looking down over the brink of Trail Canyon Falls with some people at the bottom providing a sense of scale of how high up I was
Looking down over the brink of Trail Canyon Falls with some people at the bottom providing a sense of scale of how high up I was

While the descent to the bottom of the Trail Canyon Falls was technically unsanctioned, the main trail did keep going past the waterfall.

The trail remained obvious and easy-to-follow, but I eventually found a somewhat wider area where it was fairly easy to cross Golden Creek (or Trail Canyon Creek) and then backtrack to the brink of the waterfall.

Given the sheer dropoff at the very top of the waterfall, I had to resist the temptation to get too close to the edge of the gorge given how slippery the rocks could be when wet here.

By the way, the trail description in our California Waterfalls book by Ann Marie Brown was this route that ended at the top of the falls.

Trail_Canyon_Falls_262_02082020 - The Trail Canyon Trail continuing beyond the Trail Canyon Falls. This trail eventually took me to a spot where I could easily cross the creek then backtrack to the brink of the waterfall
The Trail Canyon Trail continuing beyond the Trail Canyon Falls. This trail eventually took me to a spot where I could easily cross the creek then backtrack to the brink of the waterfall

That said, the main trail would ultimately continue onwards to the Tom Lucas Camp, but we had never gone beyond Trail Canyon Falls so we can’t say anything more about that trail.

Once we had our fill of both the top and bottom of Trail Canyon Falls, we then looked forward to the mostly downhill hike back to our parked car.

All things considered, on our most recent hikes, we had spent a total of between 3-4 hours away from the car, which encompassed the hiking, the photographing, and the picnicking at the base of the Trail Canyon Falls.

Back in 2002, I had spent about 2.5 hours for both the hiking and the photo taking, but that was when I was younger and I didn’t have to start my hike from as far as the Big Tujunga Road.

Trail_Canyon_Falls_058_03032023 - The Trail Canyon Falls Trail could involve creek crossings with unusually high flow like shown in this photo during an early 2023 visit on a week when a freak snow storm created a lot of snowmelt going right into Big Tujunga Canyon!
The Trail Canyon Falls Trail could involve creek crossings with unusually high flow like shown in this photo during an early 2023 visit on a week when a freak snow storm created a lot of snowmelt going right into Big Tujunga Canyon!

Conversely, after a freak snow storm hit the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains, it took Mom and I nearly 5 hours to complete this hike given the high water conditions (from all that snowmelt) at the 6 creek crossings along the way.

The depth of these crossings went from about shin-deep to knee-deep with strong current conspiring to sweep us away, which was why we were glad we brought sandals along with trekking poles (though I did wish I had brought Trail Runners).

Authorities

Trail Canyon Falls resides in the Angeles National Forest near Pasadena in Los Angeles County, California. It is administered by the USDA Forest Service. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website or Facebook page.

Maps and Routing Content are for annual subscribers. See Membership Options.
Content is for subscribers. See Membership Options.
Tagged with: sunland, tujunga, angeles national forest, los angeles, angeles crest, southern california, california, waterfall



Visitor Comments:

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Trail Canyon Falls Open June 11, 2012 8:41 pm by Stephanie - This trail is now open. We hiked this trail on June 9th. ...Read More
Aug 12, 2011- Trail Canyon Falls still not open August 13, 2011 10:43 pm by Carolina Oester - Still not open from the fire 2 years ago... ...Read More
Trail Canyon 1/20/11 January 30, 2011 12:29 am by _Anonymous56 - Just hiked to the falls! It was so beautiful. It was hard to follow the trail, lots of boulder hopping and crossing of the creek. If you're looking to stay on the trail you need to be looking up to the left for barbed wire and that's how you know when the trail verges up… ...Read More
Trail Canyon Falls – 10/30/2010 Couldn’t get to it October 31, 2010 1:30 am by Nutella Crepe - We tried driving up from Big Tujunga Drive, but Trail Canyon is still closed from fire damage. Where Big Tujunga meets Angeles Forest Rd., you can only go north -- Angeles Forest Rd. in the direction of Pasadena is still closed. By Aliso Park (more north on Angeles Forest Rd.) the Pacific Crest Trail is… ...Read More

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Trail Canyon May 17, 2012 May 18, 2012 6:48 am by John - Just went to trail canyon falls today. The trail is closed due to fires that happened years ago but I think it is because they don't have the money to fix and maintain the trail to be honest. You must trespass at your own risk. I parked on Ollie Rd. just yards from the dirt… ...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.
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