Secluded Wonders : Waterfalls Gushing After Recent Rains Are Drawing Many to Canyons

The waterfalls in Falls and Holy Jim canyons are only a stone’s throw from the tony condominiums and cookie-cutter homes in the planned communities of Rancho Santa Margarita. But follow the rutted dirt road along Trabuco Creek and the distance can easily be measured in years, not miles.

Towering sycamores and majestic, century-old oaks stand amid clumps of fragrant sage and manzanita.

The gurgling streams that ripple across the roadway are a reminder that these canyons are among the last remaining rustic areas of Orange County. The recent rains have enhanced the canyons’ natural charm: Spectacular waterfalls now gush down the mountain slopes and flow into once bone-dry creeks.

Forest rangers have recently received a flood of inquiries about the waterfalls since word spread that the storms had transformed the Santa Ana Mountains into a water wonderland.

“If you want to see waterfalls in Orange County or close by, now is the time,” said Fran Colwell, a spokesman for the Trabuco Ranger District of Cleveland National Forest. “It doesn’t flow much better than this.”

Although the sights provide a thrill for a few hikers who frequent the falls, they are among the forest’s best-kept secrets, according to officials with the Trabuco Ranger District. The waterfalls at Falls Canyon were discovered more than a century ago, but somehow never made it in local hiking guides.

“It’s unspoiled and the people who know about it want to keep it that way,” Colwell said. “We have no objections to people visiting if they leave it as they’ve found it. Take nothing and leave nothing.”

Falls Canyon is visited by only a handful of naturalists because the area is not easily accessible from Trabuco Creek Road. Visitors must drive four-wheel-drive vehicles through streams and over mounds of dirt that have slid onto the roadway from the steep slopes above. Recent rains have also washed away parts of the trail.

But the downpours are also keeping sheriff’s deputies busy as they cite or even arrest visitors who break the law by heading into the unspoiled outback with their vehicles and tearing up the terrain.

The vehicles sometimes capsize in the streams, leaking oil and gas that kill trout and other wildlife and endanger the forest’s fragile ecosystem, rangers say.

But the law is waiting for them.

One recent day, Sheriff’s Deputy Duane Turner’s black-and-white Chevy Blazer was perched on a hillside, hidden by some shrubbery. Turner, who has been patrolling these canyons since 1982, knows the nooks of this forest like a New York cabby maneuvering the streets of Manhattan.

He drove through lower Trabuco Canyon, pointing out the skeletons of vehicles dumped by car thieves amid fields of sage. The sides and hoods of the cars are like sieves, riddled with bullet holes.

During the last week, Turner has been a virtual traffic officer in the forest, writing at least 10 citations to four-wheelers who ventured off the road to do wheelies and show off their stunts to friends. In one instance, the deputy chased and cited a Huntington Beach man for driving his four-wheel-drive vehicle 60 m.p.h. on the bumpy dirt road, which is a 15 m.p.h. zone.

As he rounded a bend named Pear Tree Crossing on Wednesday, Turner spotted a white 1974 Chevy Blazer veering off the dirt road. The driver gunned the engines as he steered the vehicle between two oaks and up a steep incline.

The white Blazer bucked, then surged forward, belching black smoke as it inched up the hill. Turner hit his red lights.

Two Mission Viejo teen-agers sheepishly left the vehicle and walked toward the officer.

Turner cited the driver for vehicle trespass and destruction of terrain and told them to leave.

As they were leaving, one of them, a 17-year-old Trabuco High sophomore, smiled and said: “I’ll come back, but not with my vehicle . . . with my friends so I won’t get busted.”

Turner later parked his vehicle and escorted two visitors up a winding trail along the rushing creek. The trail brimmed with wildflowers.

Almost a mile up the trail, the roar of water became louder. Silvery streaks of water cascaded from a 35-foot-high ledge. Turner reached into the pool below and sampled the water.

“It’s cold, natural and it’s compliments of Mother Nature,” Turner said. “Now, in how many places can you see this?”

Later, he made his way down the slippery trail, picking up debris.

“People don’t realize the consequences of their actions,” Turner said. “We all can enjoy it if we work to preserve it.”

Finding the Falls

Waterfalls are a rare treat in Southern California, but getting to them is sometimes difficult. Here’s how to find four local ones that are running due to the recent rains:

1. Falls Canyon: Follow Live Oak Canyon Road (it will turn into Trabuco Canyon Road) to Trabuco Creek Road. At Trabuco Creek Road, turn east and follow it until you pass the boundary of Cleveland National Forest. Just after the boundary is a turnout on the right. Park there and walk across the road up a trail. The falls are less than one mile away. They may not be reached by motor vehicle.

2. Holy Jim Waterfall: About a mile past the turnout for Falls Canyon is the junction of Holy Jim Canyon Road. Turn left and follow the road for another mile. There is limited space for parking at the end of Holy Jim Canyon Road, so you may wish to park at the junction with Trabuco Creek Road and walk in. From the end of Holy Jim Canyon Road you may walk or ride a horse or mountain bike up the trail to the falls. No motorized vehicles are allowed.

3. Ortega Falls: Go about three miles southwest of the village of El Cariso in the Trabuco Ranger District of Cleveland National Forest. It is one-quarter mile north of the Ortega Highway and can be seen from a turn-off on the highway. The falls is also accessible by foot, but the trail is somewhat steep and slippery.

4. Tenaja Falls: Travel east on the Ortega Highway, cross the county line into Riverside County and continue to South Main Divide Road. Turn right (south) and continue for approximately 15 miles on the paved road (which eventually turns to gravel and then dirt). Park at the turnout and walk up the trail for about a half-mile. Vehicles with high suspensions or those with four-wheel drive are recommended.

For more information:

Call the Trabuco Ranger District, (714) 736-1811.

The Forest Service has a Forest Recreation Map detailing these and other sites. For a copy, send $2 to Trabuco Ranger District, 1147 E. 6th St., Corona, CA 91719.

The Forest Service also maintains a visitor center in the village of El Cariso. It is open weekends (Saturday-Monday), 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Sources: U.S. Forest Service, Trabuco Ranger District