Berry Creek Falls

Berry Creek Falls is perhaps the most well-known waterfall this close to Silicon Valley.

While the falls deservedly gets lots of photo clicks and literature devoted to it (thanks to its alluring 70ft drop while surrounded by coastal redwoods while possessing a character that makes it very photogenic), we wonder how it still holds up its fame despite requiring most people at least 6 hours of fairly strenuous hiking to see it! Usually, famous waterfalls are easier to access in addition to possessing that beauty that makes people go out of their way to see.

Even with that said, Julie and I not only loved this waterfall, but we also enjoyed the hike to get here. Sure it was pretty long and tiring, but we were delighted with the hike as the constant presence of coastal redwood trees made us realize that we were in a pretty special place. So we didn’t mind the sore limbs and joints after the hike was done. On top of that, we also saw lots banana slugs on the trail (something we were not accustomed to seeing) as well as an additional series of waterfalls (i.e. Silver Falls and Golden Cascade) just a short distance beyond Berry Creek Falls.

Although this trail could be done in a multitude of ways (including a long loop hike) thanks to the network of interconnecting trails as well as a separate trailhead that mountain bikers could use to shorten the amount of hiking to the waterfalls, we only did it as an out-and-back hike. The signage suggested that we only hiked 3.9 miles each way or 7.8 miles round trip, but Julie and I swore we hiked for far longer than that, especially considering we spent nearly 7 hours on the trail (though this also included all the rest stops and photo taking). We heavily contemplated doing the entire Waterfalls Loop, which I’ve read could be as little as 11 miles (according to Bay Area Hiker) or as much as 13 miles (according to our guidebook).

Our hike started off at the large parking lot nearby the Big Basin Redwoods State Park Headquarters. This was said to be California’s oldest state park (though Yosemite National Park was declared a state park in 1864 before becoming a National park in 1890) so the park was quite busy around this wide park-like area. We followed one of the connecting trails that meandered amongst some giant coastal redwood trees before connecting with the Skyline to the Sea Trail.

Then, we followed the Skyline to the Sea Trail for the next couple of hours. We chose not to take any of the connectors to the Sunset Trail near the start of this stretch, nor did we take the Trimms Creek Trail, which also connected with the Sunset Trail probably nearly 3 miles into this stretch. It climbed for a bit (said to be 250ft gain) before gradually dropping towards Kelly Creek (which would become a long, gradual climb on the return).

The whole time we would see the old growth redwood trees that the park was known for, but the combination of the serenity and the length of the trail also allowed us to start paying attention to the ubiquitous banana slugs that we diligently tried to avoid trampling.

At nearly 4.3 miles into the hike (according to distances stated in Ann Marie Brown’s book), we reached a junction where the Skyline to the Sea Trail and the Berry Creek Falls Trail intersected. It was here that we noticed some mountain bikers coming the other way on the Skyline to the Sea Trail, and we suspected that the trail must have been bike friendly from Waddell Beach to this junction. However, bikers wishing to continue would have to lock their bikes and hike because neither the Berry Creek Trail nor the stretch of the Skyline to the Sea Trail that we had just taken looked doable with mountain bikes.

So we left the Skyline to the Sea Trail and turned right to go onto the Berry Creek Falls Trail. After about a few more minutes of hiking, we were able to catch glimpses of the impressive waterfall itself. And as we got closer, we noticed a bench where we could see most of the falls through an opening between redwood trees.

The trail continued descending gently towards an overlook deck with a full view of the pretty 70ft waterfall. The lookout deck was full of people, which attested to the popularity of this trail despite the moderate amount of hiking it took to get here. Since I didn’t bring a tripod, I did my best to utilize the wooden railings to stabilize the camera for those obligatory long exposure photos, which this waterfall was well-suited for.

Turning back from here to the car park via the route that we took (i.e. Skyline to the Sea Trail) was about 4.4 miles or so. However, beyond the lookout deck, the trail ascended up a pair of switchbacks before hugging a ledge overlooking Berry Creek Falls. Continuing further, the views would eventually be blocked by overgrowth and that marked the next stretch of hiking to reach Silver Falls and Golden Cascade in just under another mile or so. We’ve devoted a separate page for those waterfalls since we had quite a bit more to say about these waterfalls as well.