California's Waterfalls

Seven Falls is a perfect springtime daytrip in Santa Barbara. It has a little bit of everything: waterfalls, swimming holes, vistas, wildflowers, and a good trail. The only problem is that the route to Seven Falls, one of the most popular paths in Santa Barbara, is also one of the most poorly signed. You've got to know where you're going before you set out.

How to Get There

From the parking area at the end of Tunnel Road, there are three possible roads to follow; you want the middle one, which is the continuation of Tunnel Road. Walk past a water tank and around a gate, continuing uphill on pavement for three quarters of a mile. On any given day, you may pass any or all of the following characters on this road: Families coming to splash around in the lower pools of Mission Creek, serious power-walkers on training hikes on the fire roads, an old guy who leads a three-horse pack train up and down the canyon, and college kids going to explore the falls. It's a busy trail, but the ocean views are awesome.

At a bridge over Mission Creek, look for Fern Falls, which drops below the bridge in winter and early spring only. It has a lovely pool below it, but there were no ferns that I could see. From the bridge, look up at the rocky peaks ahead and admire the sandstone jutting upward. Yes, Virginia, this is waterfall country. Sometimes you'll spot hang gliders soaring above the cliffs.

Cross the bridge and continue walking uphill on the deteriorating paved road. When the pavement ends, a dirt road leads straight ahead and also to the right; go straight, hiking among red wild fuchsias and peach-colored monkey flowers. In a few hundred yards, you'll see a sign on your left: Jesusita Trail to Inspiration Point and San Roque Road are straight ahead; Tunnel Trail is the single-track to your right. Walk 100 yards straight ahead, then bear left on Jesusita Trail, cutting downhill to parallel Mission Creek. You reach small cascades and rocky pools almost immediately, and families with small children usually stop here and choose a pool to play in.

Seven Falls

To see Seven Falls, cross the creek, but on the far side, don't continue on the Jesusita Trail, which leads up the slope to Inspiration Point. Instead, follow the well-worn trail a quarter mile upstream, on the left (west) side of Mission Creek. It takes only 15 minutes of scrambling on fairly good trail to reach the sandstone-carved cascades of Seven Falls. The trail paralleling the creek is well-defined, but which cutoff you take to descend to the falls is up to you — there are several of them, all steep. The first cutoff leads you to a rocky overlook near the main set of falls; the rest take you to various swimming holes and other cascades.

The Seven Falls designation is a little nebulous; it's more like"Nearly Seven Falls," because there are five falls right in a row and then a couple more sprinkled up- and downstream. None of them are huge, but they're all beautiful. Their pools are as much as eight feet deep, perfect for swimming when there's enough water in Mission Creek. (If you do swim, don't step on the newts.) Fervent believers of Truth in Advertising would say that after about May 15th, this place should be called Seven Pools, not Seven Falls, because the water flow dwindles as soon as the rains stop.

Trip notes: There is no fee to enter the park. For a map of the area, contact the Los Padres National Forest.

Directions: From US 101 in Santa Barbara, take the Mission Street exit and follow it east for just over a mile, crossing State Street. When Mission Street ends, turn left on Laguna Street and drive past the Santa Barbara Mission, turning right on Los Olivos directly in front of the Mission. As you pass the Mission, bear left on Mission Canyon Road for eight-tenths of a mile. Turn right on Foothill Boulevard. In one-tenth of a mile, turn left onto the continuation of Mission Canyon Road. Then bear left on Tunnel Road, and follow it for 1.1 miles until it ends. Park alongside the road, on the right.