Special Instructions
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Wilderness Permit Req'd
CONTACT: |
Lytle Creek Ranger Station
1209 Lytle Creek Road
Lytle Creek, CA 92358
(909) 887-2576 |
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NF Adventure Pass Req'd
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| You are here: Home
: Hiking |
Last
Updated on 07/22/2000 |
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Middle Fork Lytle Creek Falls
Little known waterfall |
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Location: San Gabriel Mountains, San Bernardino National Forest, Southern California
Region: Lytle Creek Region
Wilderness: Cucamonga Wilderness
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Total Distance:
4 Mi
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Season: April-Nov
Type: Out & Back |
Start Elev: 4,000 Ft
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Total
Time: 2.5 hr
Time In: 1.5 hr
Time Out: 1 hr
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| Driving Directions |
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From I-15, Take Hwy 138 to Lone Pine Canyon Rd, make left onto Lone Pine Canyon Rd and go about 2-3 miles to Swarthout Canyon Rd (dirt) on your left. Take the latter rd 2 miles to an unmarked rd called Sheep Canyon Rd (dirt) near a large white tank out to the right. Take Sheep Canyon Rd 3 miles to Lytle Creek Rd (paved). Make a left on Lytle Creek Rd and go about a mile or so down to Middle Fork Rd, take a right. Go three miles down this road (dirt), staying out of the canyon and park at the trailhead and parking lot where there is a map of the area and other info in some display cases out there. Or, take I-15 to Sierra, exit, make right at stop sign and go up into Lytle Creek on Lytle Creek Rd. Turn left at Middle Fork Rd, and go 3 miles to parking area (this is the quicker way to go). |
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| Route |
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Take the trail, when it splits, take either way, but Stone House is shadier and closer to the creek, go maybe about 2 miles (a guess) on the trail and then there is this creek crossing where someone has put some fairly small logs there and there is another good crossing just a few feet downstream, go across and hike up the creek directly in line with and slightly to the left of the crossing. Go maybe 1000ft or so rock-hopping the creek and the falls are in front of you. |
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| Details |
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It may be difficult to find the falls, not many people, even people just hiking a few hundred feet from them know about them. There are three falls/water slides stacked on top of each other, all are about the same height - 30 ft or so each, you can only see the first two from the bottom, you can hike up to the top of the lower fall from the side and you can rock-climb from a little further up the side to the top of the hill nearby and down to the top fall, one slip and you fall. But it is a cool view because at the bottom of the top fall there is a little pool, which is inaccessible to most people, except crazy people, without ropes and junk. I've got no pictures of this because I could not worry about carrying a camera while rock climbing without ropes on loose rock. An alternate and safer way to get to the top fall is to continue hiking up the cucamonga peak trail maybe 1/4mile to this switchback where there is a large fallen tree as part of the switchback and hike straight up the steep rocky small hill opposite the fallen tree (up the hill on the left side of the trail), then just kind of go straight downhill and you should run into the creek and the top of the falls. If you have ropes, it would be cool to repell into the 54°F pool below. |
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