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Home Resource Center In the News Home Greenbelt Alliance in the News |
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Greenbelt Alliance In the News
February 28, 2003 Falling for falls
Late winter, early spring is when Bay Area water wonders are at their best Jennifer Baldwin, Oakland Tribune staff writerThere's something about falling water that creates serenity and awe. It's magical and mesmerizing. It's beautiful. "It's like falling in love," says Ann Marie Brown, 39, who has been hiking to see waterfalls in California since she was a student at Stanford University 20 years ago. "I first got hooked on the Bay Area ones, then expanded through the entire state," she says. Brown is the author of "California Waterfalls," (Avalon Travel Publishing, $17.95), a book of 215 cascades located everywhere from mountains to deserts and ranging in size from 15 feet to 2,425 feet. The book lists 20 "really good, solid waterfalls" in the Bay Area that are worth going to see every year, says Brown, who lives in Montara next to Half Moon Bay. This time of year - late winter and early spring - is Brown's busy season. The best time to see Bay Area waterfalls is right after a rainstorm, when creeks and rivers are swollen and water rushes to the Bay. Waterfalls elsewhere, such as in the Sierra Nevada, are best seen in the summer, when melting snow feeds the falls. Some of the waterfalls are easy to get to and offer great settings for family picnics. Others are more difficult to reach, requiring several miles of hiking and "scrambling," as Brown puts it, and make great overnight backpack trips. Brown's favorites aren't more than two hours away, in Marin, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Sonoma counties. Also close to home are falls in Alameda and San Mateo counties. Taking advantage of the rainy season, the Greenbelt Alliance - a local land conservation group - is leading free walks and hikes to see waterfalls every weekend around the Bay Area through March 23. On a recent Sunday, volunteer Bob Johnson of Berkeley took a group of two dozen into the Berkeley hills to see a series of small waterfalls and winding creeks that make their way through private yards, public parks and under roads before finally draining through culverts to the Bay. Yes, even urban areas such as Berkeley are home to waterfalls. The Berkeley hills are filled with little-known public paths and stairways that sneak between homes and tiny parks. Along one of these steep paths off San Diego Road is a partly man-made, three-tier cascade that ends at a park on South Hampton Road below. The small waterfall is along a fork of Blackberry Creek, one of two creeks that boast waterfalls. The other is Codornices Creek. However, one of its two waterfalls - the most impressive, Johnson says - is on private property along Tamalpais Path. Upcoming Greenbelt Alliance hikes include the Coastal Waterfall in San Pedro Valley Park in San Mateo County, Abrigo Falls in Briones Regional Park near Lafayette, and Murietta Falls in the Ohlone Wilderness near Livermore. At 100 feet in height, Murietta Falls is the tallest waterfall in the Bay Area, says Brown, who recommends the 12-mile round trip only to experienced hikers. The trail includes a 3,500-foot elevation change and two camp sites for overnight backpackers. "This is one of those falls that (has) a little water all winter long, but it doesn't look good unless it's just rained," Brown says. "So don't do it unless it has rained in the past week or so." She adds that the rock beds, composed of greenstone basalt, are beautiful in the deep pool below the fall. Brown has several favorite waterfalls in the Bay Area, but if she had
to pick an absolute favorite, it would be Alamere Falls in Point Reyes
National Seashore in Marin County. "Especially for this time of year,
in addition to getting this beautiful waterfall that drops down a cliff
into the ocean, there are also tremendous amounts of wildflowers, like
lupine and poppies. So you get a double whammy." In the East Bay, Brown's favorite waterfall is at Mount Diablo State Park in Contra Costa County. Donner Creek Falls, or Diablo Falls, consists of about four cascades along the creek, requiring a moderate, 6 1/2-mile round-trip hike that has a 900-foot elevation gain. "People think Mount Diablo is dry and hot, but in the rainy season, there are lots of falls. Also, there is a lot of flora and fauna right now that are beautiful. There are gray pines, or foothill pines, with pine cones that weigh up to four pounds. When you pick one up, you have this great, big, solid pine cone in your hands," she says. Perhaps the most popular waterfall in the Bay Area is Brown's South Bay favorite, Berry Creek Falls at Big Basin Redwoods State Park near Davenport off Highway 1. "That's a once-a-year trip. I never miss it," she says. The nine-mile loop to see the 70-foot cataract can be extended just three more miles to see two more cascades: Silver Falls and Golden Falls. The complete hike is great for overnight backpacking at Sunset Trail Camp. Silver Falls is 60 feet high and spills over sandstone and limestone rock. Golden Falls, in contrast, slides down orange sandstone, which Brown says looks like a "big, orange Slip 'N' Slide for otters." For families with children camping in Big Basin, Brown recommends an easy 3 1/2-mile roundtrip walk to see Sempervirens Falls. The trail is well-marked, Brown says, and starts just past Wastahi Camp in the park. Other easily accessible waterfalls include Sonoma Creek Falls at Sugarloaf Ridge State Park in Sonoma County - a quarter-mile, steep walk - and Uvas Park Falls at Uvas Canyon County Park near Morgan Hill. This last park offers five waterfalls along a one-mile loop that is flat and wheelchair accessible. The park also has picnic areas with benches and a campground. Though Brown loves all waterfalls, she says she especially loves the ones she can hike to. And she has learned that even people who don't like hiking find the enticement of waterfalls the best excuse for added effort. "Like I said, there's something about waterfalls that feels like falling in love," Brown says. "It even works for people who aren't hikers. If you take them to a waterfall, they're thrilled."
o--o--o Where the Waterfalls Are Here are some Bay Area waterfalls compiled from the book "California Waterfalls'' by Ann Marie Brown, Greenbelt Alliance, the East Bay Regional Parks District and the City of Oakland Parks and Recreation department. Greenbelt Alliance volunteers are leading free hikes to see Bay Area waterfalls through March 23. For information, call (415) 255-3233 or visit www.greenbelt.org Alameda County Contra Costa County San Mateo County Santa Clara County Santa Cruz County Marin County Sonoma County ### |
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