Distance: 3.4 miles round trip cross country
Elevation Gain: 885'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 0.7
Round trip time: 4 hours 50 minutes
Recommended water: 64 oz.
Parking/Fees: N/A
Difficulty: Moderate
Jim Sugel from The Hiker's Way discovered a majestic multi-tiered waterfall deep in the Santa Ana Mountains in Orange County. He named it Elizabeth Falls after his mother. He did not want to reveal the location because there was no legal parking nearby and he wanted to keep the location private. I commented on his blog that I would not publish the location if I ever found it, and today I found it. It is in a remote location and not easy to reach. I discovered two more notable waterfalls upstream from Elizabeth Falls. The next multi-tiered waterfall I named Leisa Falls after my beautiful and supportive wife. The final multi-tiered waterfall I dubbed Kimba Falls.
The trip to Elizabeth Falls was slow due to all the water in the canyon. A lot of the trip was rock hopping upstream, but there were a few places I felt compelled to climb up the side of the canyon to bypass a pool. On the banks lurked deep grass, tangled brush, and poison oak. It was also starting to warm up so I tried to avoid the snaky brush. An occasional pile of large boulders created some class 3 scrambling. I passed a wide slab of granite that had sheets of water pouring over it. An unusual sight in the Santa Anas. I hiked past many small falls and pools, finding frogs in a couple. As I started to doubt that Elizabeth Falls was in this canyon, it materialized. It is probably the second most impressive falls I've seen in Orange County (after Tanriverdi), and maybe the most elegant. There are at least half a dozen cascades, some as high as 20'. More class 3 scrambling was necessary to make it to the top of the falls, but exposure was minimal. After enjoying the moment, I continued upstream in search of more.
Elizabeth Falls
One of the middle tiers
Upper tiers
Looking down from the top of Elizabeth Falls
After ten or fifteen minutes, I came to a large pool fed by another multi-tiered falls. This one I named Leisa Falls. Water had carved several channels in the gray and white granite that formed the top of the falls. After a short break for an apple, I continued upstream.
Leisa Falls
Top of Leisa Falls
The final multi-tiered falls I found was another long cascade like Elizabeth Falls, but with less dramatic tiers. I named this one Kimba Falls. There was a large truck sized boulder at the bottom of the falls. Also at the bottom was a damp sand bar. I thought I could just walk across it, but my feet sank in about 4 inches, covering my boots with sand. They were already wet, so no harm done. I stopped at the top of Kimba Falls for a lunch break. The terrain upstream was open enough to continue, but I had found what I came looking for and then some. The way back was no faster despite the gravity assist. It was the same combination of careful rock hopping, bushwhacking and scrambling. On the way back, I stumbled on an abandoned illegal grow camp. Sadly, the lower part of canyon was littered with plastic tubing from whenever it was in operation. When I got home, I did a thorough dish soap rinse as posion oak prevention.
Kimba Falls
Top of Kimba Falls
Illegal grow camp
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