A Popular NorCal Waterfall Trail Visits Countless Falls Through Redwood Groves And Fern Gully Fairylands

To say that one of NorCal's finest waterfall trails lies a smidgen outside of San Francisco is a big claim. After all, Northern California is the land of the awe-inspiring Shasta Cascades and their 42 waterfalls. It's also home to the 129-foot waterfalls of the McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park, and even hosts the epic seasonal falls of the legendary Yosemite National Park. But there's one hike — the Cataract Falls Trail — that offers a unique vision of California waterfalls and is consistently rated as one of the best in the region.

If you like your waterfalls hidden deep in dense fir and redwood groves, surrounded by carpets of wild grass and moss, and hemmed in by fern thickets that look plucked from a fairy tale, this could be the one for you. Over the course of 2.8 miles, the out-and-back trail will bring you through the hinterland of the Mount Tamalpais Watershed to reveal not one, not two, not three, but a whole multitude of falls of all different shapes and sizes. And there's more good news: The Cataract Falls Trail is super accessible. The trailhead isn't all that far from Downtown San Francisco itself, which is part of what makes it so popular. You're looking at a drive of a little over an hour if you come in from the heart of the big city via the Golden Gate Bridge, and only a little under an hour and a half if you drive straight up from the airport — meaning that this could be your first hike in California after touching down.

Waterfall buffs won't be disappointed by the offerings of the Cataract Falls Trail. You don't come here to traipse for several hours to find just a single waterfall. Instead, you come for the nearly 10 individual falls, and many more mini falls. In fact, there are so many waterfalls on offer along this route that they've not even been named.

If you begin at the main trailhead on Bolinas-Fairfax Road, the route is well marked, starting with an initial flat section and then sporadic ascents through the forest, and occasionally you'll traverse sets of steps that have been cut straight into the rock on the side of Mount Tamalpais. The initial mile of the hike is especially rich in waterfalls. These cascades come in all forms; trickling over a mossy boulder here, gushing in ribbony streams off a rocky ledge there. 

One past hiker summed up the route on AllTrails, noting: "It does basically feel like a stairmaster with a view! Lots of elevation climb but as a reward, it's constant waterfalls. Went on a weekday after rain and it was not crowded at all. Falls were flowing." True enough, the wetter months tend to bring the best conditions on the trail because the waterfalls will be at their strongest, and the forest at its greenest.

One of the things that makes the Cataract Falls Trail so darn special is that it brings you through pockets of fairy-tale-like forests. There's one point where a waterfall disappears through a gully laced with green ferns, and another where the falls end in a shimmering blue pool that spreads out in a clearing under the shade of a forest made up of redwoods, oaks, and maples. What's more, choosing the Cataract Falls Trail could pave the way into the utterly beautiful Mount Tamalpais State Park full of redwood trails, camping, and ocean vistas. This is one seriously lush, green, forest-rich corner of the San Francisco Bay Area, spreading across a great swathe of Marin County from Bolinas Bay to the well-to-do suburb of Mill Valley. The Cataract Falls Trail is just one of a whole web of options that avid hikers have at their fingertips.

It's possible to extend the Cataract Falls hike to go all the way to the Rock Spring Trailhead, for example. This combination of trails typically takes around three hours to complete and, on the way, you can cross the official boundary of the state park. This trail also eventually joins the Steep Ravine Trail, an amazing journey through sorrel-filled redwoods that takes you all the way to the Pacific Ocean via the Dipsea Stairs. Here, you'll find even more small waterfalls to take in along the way. Just be sure you plan a route that you can complete in whatever time you have — there are so many paths in these parts that it's easy to get carried away.