Day Trip to Fossil Falls Part 1
I’ve been working from home since April and since then we only went to the beach, tennis court, or the occasional grocery store visit. So when our office was closed the past Monday, we decided to do a one-day road trip to places we haven’t seen before in Southern California. Let me tell you this coming from someone who has seen pretty much everything here in SoCal. In this three-blog post series, I’ll share with you my three underrated day trips you can visit in Southern California. Let’s start with our first stop the Fossil Falls.
I love traveling and since I grew up there was never a year where I didn’t go anywhere. I thought my life will continue like this but then 2020 came around and totally put our plans upside down. People adjusted more or less to the restrictions and going on wasn’t as intimidating anymore, so the past Monday we decided to drive four hours towards the Nevada border to see the Fossil Falls. The entire trip included stops at the Fossil Falls, Trona Pinnacles, and the Mojave Desert Preserve. Covering all stops in one blog post would be too much so I decided to split it up in a three-part series, starting with the Fossil Falls.
Details:
3 ½ hour drive from Los Angeles
Half a mile hike to the Fossil Falls
Flat easy hike
Free to visit
The Fossil Falls can be reached after a short and easy hike from the parking lot. The parking lot is relatively small but since we came on a Monday no one else was there. Before entering the parking lot you will drive for about 10 minutes on a dirt road. There is also a restroom, small map, and a picnic bench located at the parking lot. We visited during the end of September but temperatures on this day were in the high 90s.
The hike to the Falls takes around 15 minutes. Don’t be fooled the Fossil Falls don’t actually contain water but instead are dried out falls and river beds. The Fossil Falls were created by volcanic activity thousands of years ago. Meltwater from the glacier in the Sierra Nevada played a big role in creating these unique looking falls.
You will hike along large lava rocks surrounded by a desert landscape. During summer temperatures can exceed 100 degrees, so be sure to take water with you. The hike is flat and there is a trail that will lead you to the Fossil Falls. As soon as you reached the Fossil Falls the stone landscape changed from lava rocks to solid canyon. You are on top of the Falls and will see a 60 feet drop, so be careful when walking on the edge. There are also loose stones and gravel.
Since you have reached the end of the trail and your destination you can start exploring. We took a few pictures from on top of the Fossil Falls and then decided to climb down the rocks. If you decide to climb down the rocks you have to be careful not to slip. Climbing down the falls is at your own risk. Hubby and I are thrill-seekers and so we partially climbed down the falls and standing inside the canyon will make you realize how impressive the Fossil Falls look. Sooner or later we reached a point where it is impossible to continue to climb since there is a drop of about 20 feet.
Overall, I am surprised that there are little to no information about this gorgeous place. This is a fun day trip from Los Angeles or San Diego, while you are in the area you should also visit the Trona Pinnacles which I will be covering next time.
Thanks for stopping by!
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