Cedar Creek Waterfall

Enjoying the spring weather in San Diego, last weekend we continued our quest to take on some of the hikes that are just too hot to do in the summer. We wanted something challenging, like a mountain, but pretty, ohh! like a waterfall. We decided to take on Cedar Creek, as it promised to offer one of the best waterfalls in San Diego. It was everything we were looking for!

• Trail: Ceder Creek trail (Ramona side)
  
• Location: Ramona
  
• Length: about 4 miles out & back
  
• Hike time: 3 hours
  
• Terrain: rocky, dusty path & some river crossing
  
• Path visibility: several rather worn trails all leading down to same place
  
• Difficulty: moderate because of the steep uphill hike up from falls
  
• Cost: free
  
• Highlight destination: waterfall
  
• Beware: bring lots of water, go in morning to avoid massive groups
  

Getting to the trail head in Ramona is apparently a little easier from San Diego than the traditional Julian starting point for this hike. The drive only took us an hour, then we easily found the trail head at a dead end amongst several houses who get Cedar Creek as their backyard.

We arrived around 10 a.m. on the trails, which seemed to be good timing as we had a chance to enjoy the waterfall a bit privately in between the onslaught of hikers who got a slightly later start than us. Just in our 3 hours on the trail we probably came across 30 or so other hikers (if not more).

The walk down to the waterfall took us about an hour. We had the little 2 lb. dog with us again & she did great (most of the hike!). The descent is a bit steep with loose dirt & rocks, making the trip down a bit dicey at times. The wildflowers were just beginning their springtime bloom and the surrounding peaks as we descended into the valley made for quite the postcard view.

We crossed running water, rock jumping, about 3 times to get to the waterfall. I like to point out that I crossed the San Diego River, but of course it really was just a shallow rushing creek of a thing so it wasn't that difficult.

It is easy to see why the Cedar Creek trail's waterfall is dubbed the best in San Diego. With its 100 foot falls, nature puts on quite a show for hikers. There was a large group of about 8 professional looking hikers there when we arrived, and they were stationed right in front of the waterfall. We took over a boulder off to the side of the falls and ate our lunch. By the time we were done eating, they were heading back up the trail so we spent a good 15 minutes at the primo spot in front of the falls enjoying it ourselves.

You can also climb up to the top of the waterfall (no jumping down though), but with the best view being the waterfall we didn't head up that way. There was a group of about 5 people near the top of the falls during our stop.

As with any waterfall hike, the hardest part is the trip back to the car. I thought it must have been a 90 degree incline, but my trusty hiking partner insists it was only about 30 degrees at most. Sure felt straight up! You didn't really notice the utility of the excellently placed look-out rocks at each plateau until you were headed way up - that's when you use each rock formation as a resting bench for a water break. (It was early March & we went through lots of water, so make sure you bring plenty.)

Our poor pooch had just about had enough of her hike about halfway up, as on our first major stop she literally fell over to rest when she realized we weren't going to be moving anymore. It was tragically precious & of course we decided to carry her most of the way back after that. Don't worry, we had plenty of water for her too. Needless to say, she slept like a rock that night.

The trip back up to the car only took a little extra time than our trip down, as the climb took just under 1.5 hours to return to the trail head.

Even with the big groups of other hikers, this is one of favorite hikes to date. The countryside was so peaceful, the waterfall so amazing and as always the company top-notch. Try to do this hike after a big rainy season or in the spring, as many reports online say the beautiful falls dry up to barely a trickle by August.

On the way home we detoured through Julian & of course rewarded ourselves with their famous Apple pie.

Tipped Off: Jerry Schad's Afoot & Afield in San Diego.