Adventures in Southern California: pacific coast highway waterfall

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McWay Falls. Big Sur California

McWay Falls. Big Sur California 2012

McWay Falls is an 80 foot waterfall located an hour south of Carmel California on Pacific Coast Highway. McWay Falls plummets off a cliff onto a pristine beach. With the exception of Yosemite Falls, Mcway is the most photographed and arguably the most famous waterfall in California.

The “hike” to the overlook is less than ¼ mile from the parking lot. The parking lot is almost always full, but it’s well worth the wait for a spot, so be patient. Most people use the main lot and cross under Coastal Highway on foot through the tunnel.

Unfortunately, Mcway Cove is protected, so the falls can only be viewed from the overlook and not from the beach. We saw several people ticketed by the park rangers for climbing down the hill to see the waterfall. It’s a misdemeanor if they decide to prosecute you.

There are several other amazing waterfalls in Big Sur near McWay Falls. Limekiln Falls, Salmon Creek Falls and Pfeiffer Falls are 4 of my favorite hikes in Big Sur, and all of the trailheads are located along coastal highway. Most of them are short hikes, so you can map them out and see all 5 in one day.

The Grotto Trail, Malibu

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Pacific Coast Highway waterfalls, the Grotto Waterfall in Malibu, Malibu cave

The Grotto, Malibu

The Grotto trail is a short, but fun 3 ½ mile round-trip hike to see a 20 foot waterfall that flows into a hidden cave. The trail features a few other smaller waterfalls and a beautiful open meadow that is filled with wildflowers in the spring. As you approach the waterfall on the grotto trail, the canyon narrows and the last ¼ mile of the trail can be a bit tricky. To reach the base of the falls and the hidden cave, you’ll have to navigate around, over, and through a maze of house-sized boulders. Grandma and your fat uncle Phil will have to wait at the top of the falls while everyone else does some exploring. You probably won’t be able to spend the entire day at the Grotto, but you might consider heading over to nearby Temescal Canyon in Santa Monica afterwards.

To reach the Grotto trailhead from Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, turn onto Yerba Buena Road and follow it 5 ½ miles to the Circle X Ranch Ranger Station.

For a more detailed description of the actual trail, visit http://socal.hiking.info/ventura/ve-grotto.php

Grotto Trail, Malibu California

The Grotto, Malibu California

Yosemite Roadtrip Video

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This past month was my my big Yosemite trip. My brothers flew in from Louisville Kentucky for the trip. We had 7 days to drive from Newport up Coastal Highway through Big Sur, cutting east at Monterrey to the park. 7 days was just enough to see the major attractions and do a little extra exploring on the way. I'll be posting info this month on all of the major stops we took along the way. My brother Chris compiled this awesome video of highlights from our trip.

Temescal Canyon, Santa Monica

malibu hiking, malibu waterfalls, pacific coast highway waterfall, Santa Monica Hiking, Temescal Canyon, Temescal Canyon State Park, temescal ridge waterfall

Temescal Canyon, Santa Monica

My girlfriend and I hiked Temescal Canyon State Park in Santa Monica today for the first time. We had a bit of rain this week, so I decided to drive out and see it in prime form. The park is really easy to find. From route 10, you head North on Pacific Coast Highway for about 2 miles and turn right onto Temescal Canyon Road and follow it another 2 miles to the end. There was a pay parking lot for 7$, but we found plenty of free street parking less than 500 feet from the pay lot.

To get to the trailhead, you follow the paved road for about a half mile until it ends at a group of cabins. We found a kiosk on the way with free maps. The hike to the falls is only a mile from the trailhead, but we turned it into a 5 mile loop. We started on the trailhead marked “waterfall”. The trail is wide and well-traveled, if not a bit rocky. There were a ton of signs forbidding dogs on the trail. Its an uphill climb all the way to the falls. We saw quite a few out of shape hikers huffing and puffing. I was a little disappointed in the falls. They were fed by a very small creek. There was a large family with a ton of kids having a picnic at the base of the falls. One woman was screaming at her kids at the top of her lungs while they played. I suddenly remembered why I never hike on Sundays.

From the falls, we crossed a metal bridge and began the Temescal Ridge trail. It continues steadily upward, winding along a path carved into the mountain. By this point, I was breathing a little harder myself. A ton of people were passing us on the way down. I saw more beautiful girls on this trail than I’ve seen in my past twenty hikes combined. The eye candy is always motivation to continue. My girlfriend was not amused by the perfectly bronzed brunette who was hiking in a Brazilian cut bikini. It was the highlight of my trip.

2 miles from the waterfall and we reached the summit. We had a view unmatched anywhere in Los Angeles. We could see from LA all the way to the beaches and everything in between. It really makes you appreciate how populated LA really is when you see the endless expanse of buildings in the valley below you.

From the summit, we continued on the Temescal ridge trail which descended back to the main part of the park, completing the loop. It was only a 5 mile hike, but it was a hard 5 miles because of the elevation gain. I can really feel the burning in my calves. A recent peer-reviewed study found that beer was a great way to loosen stiff muscles after a hike. I have no argument with that.