People who have never been to Oregon will tell you that this is one of only two tidefalls (a…read morewaterfall that flows into the ocean) on the entire West Coast.
People who believe AllTrails will tell you that this is one of only two tidefalls in California. (If you use Alltrails, you aren't allowed to hike with me, by the way.)
Neither of these statements are anywhere close to true. As a matter of fact, there are at least two tidefalls on this one beach, and there are many more in areas that are not easily accessible to the public.
Tidefalls are common along the coasts of Oregon, Washington, and Canada. There are several tall tidefalls in Cape Perpetua alone.
That being said, Alamere Falls might be the biggest, prettiest publicly accessible tidefall in Northern California.
I recently hiked Alamere Falls for the first time in nearly ten years, and I couldn't believe how much had seemed to change.
First of all, the road to the Palomarin trail was hell in a compact vehicle. Even going like two miles per hour, I got a little motion sickness from the thousands of deep potholes.
The road is so bad that it almost seems beyond repair. At this point, it's probably only suitable for high clearance vehicles, although I did not notice any signs warning of such.
Secondly, I'm pretty sure I was the only sober person on the trail. The vibes were so, so weird. Consider packing your (legal) weapon of choice.
Thirdly, I was certainly the only person to take the 'legal' trail down, although I gained some new perspective on this.
While the trail that I took is ostensibly the trail recommended by NPS, one does have to wonder why it is so overgrown. It feels like, "Obviously, no one ever really hikes this trail," because it's nowhere near clear or well-trodden.
Certain areas of the trail were so overgrown that it was impossible to see my feet, and difficult to find my footing. These areas were chalk full of poison oak, stinging nettle, poison hemlock, and a wide variety of (harmless) snakes.
By contrast, much of the "social" trail was four feet wide, flat, and clear. Which made me wonder-- which trail is really safer?
The cliffs at the end of the social trail are constantly crumbling. The risk of falling, breaking a leg, or at least spraining an ankle, seems high.
But by contrast, the risk of spraining an ankle on the recommended trail seems high, too. And the stinging nettle hurt a lot, but only for a few hours.
My personal recommendation is to take the recommended trail, but wear solid boots, long pants, and tall, colorful socks. Tuck your pants into your socks, or wear gaiters. Use permethrin or your tick repellant of choice.
While the official Palomarin Trail may be very long and difficult, it's also worth the trouble. The ocean views and wildlife were unbelievable. I actually saw a mother deer nursing two spotted fawns in the middle of the trail.
On the beach, I found agates, fossils, shells, giant bull kelp, snowy plovers, and lots of by-the-wind-sailors jellyfish in multiple stages of life and decomposition.
The waterfall itself is pretty-- but make sure to check the tide!! I never do, and I almost always get stranded.
The first time I ever hiked this trail, I actually had to climb up a cliff in terror and wait 3 hours for the tide to recede.
But that doesn't need to happen to you if you remember to check the tide before you come out, while you still have service.
