Somewhat an easy hike. I saw couple of families with young children. No dogs allowed. I wore hiking boots and glad I did due to mushy uneven ground. There are abundant amount of signs informing guest of replies, bobcats coyotes plants etc etc. My fave signs were the ones with history and pics from 1900 along w QR code for further reading. Hike was about 2 miles and took an hour. read more

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Great for trail running and feeling like you're on some kind of urban adventure. The 3 round trip trail trail starts by a landfill sight, but quickly leaves that behind and meanders along a relatively overgrown trail which follows a stream. You eventually come to some falls that are partially obscured by vegtation, but that sound is a great reward for the walk. I imagine this trail is only worth it when there has been some rain, as it was soo green, but by Summer that will all be gone. Make sure to wear pants as the trail is literally overgrown in some spots, and you can never be too cautious with ticks everywhere (we found one on our canine companion). read more

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Thanks AllTrails for another sweet trail. Getting there - Finding this location can be confusing as the Yelp marker was wrong ( I sent in a request to update it). What you need to know is 1601 San Elijo Rd, right in front of the abandoned San Diego County Solid Waste facility. Park in front on the side of the road and walk the dirt path that goes along this old abandoned building. Note that there is no trailhead marker at the parking area, you'll see that after you walk past the abandoned building. The Trail - This is a family friendly trail with little elevation gain and nice spots to observe the babbling creek and it's inhabitants. On a windy day you can hear the rustling of the large Eucalyptus trees. There are also many wild flowers like California Poppies and plenty of Sour Grass to chew on! There is overgrowth, so it's better to come wearing pants and during the colder months when snakes are not a concern. As for the actual waterfall, it's a relatively safe walk down to the stone wall below it. Even small children should be able to walk down without issue. You'll also find places all along this trail to deviate and explore. We were here on a rainy day and found several smaller waterfalls just feet away from the main trail! Tips - At some point along the trail you will see a trail marker with an arrow pointing up a hill to Rancho Summit Rd.. Ignore the arrow and keep right along the river along Copper Creek Trail! This is the correct path to the waterfall. - I would go after a rain storm to get a better viewing of the waterfall, the creek, and the lush green overgrowth. - This is called The Copper Creek Trail. There is no Copper Creek Falls Trail. - The trail does continue past the waterfall and you have a choice to take the Whiptail loop trail or continue on the Copper Creek Trail to a dead end... read more

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This is one cool hike with various levels from moderate to intense just depends on what you're in the mood for. The trail gets a bit tight in some spots but if you get past them it's well worth it. I hiked the trail all the way till the end and It is not an "easy" trail as advertised on the AllTrails app, I would like to come back and explore more side trails on my bike soon. I found this hike to be great for jogging and mountain biking with plenty of things to look at and listen to, flowers, birds, lizards, bright dragonflies and a waterfall after rains of course. Not recommended if you're hung over. read more

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The negatives: No dogs allowed (not even on leash), and the falls are nothing too special if it hasn't rained recently. The positives: a good outdoors experience, and decent views if you go all the way to the summit. This hike also scales well to various difficulty levels, since there are lots of branching trails with different grades. The various trails are well marked on Google Maps, making it easy to pick a route that goes past the falls and loops around the trails up the hill - that way it's not entirely an in-and-back-out hike. As other reviews have mentioned, this trail can be difficult to find! A good place to park is at the turnoff to the old solid waste dump at 1601 San Elijo Rd. But the trailhead isn't visible from there - you have to walk along a dirt road that goes around the waste facility itself before you find the signs. read more

Copper Creek Falls Trail - Restricted Access - Top part of the falls - Hiking Near Me - San Marcos, California

I agree, this place is hard to find. Even when you type in the address 1601 San Elijo Rd, it takes you to the Albertsons shopping center. If you are heading west on N San Elijo Rd., you will pass the Albertsons on the left and continue going west. After about 1/4 of a mile, you will see a left turn spot, that will turn into an open lot. That is the abandoned solid waste facility that everybody is talking about. After you find the parking area, it's also difficult to navigate because there are so many different trails. When you start at the beginning of the parking lot, stay on the left fork closest to the building. Continue going and you'll run into another fork in which you veer left to stay close to the building onto some slightly paved concrete roads. Continue all the way down until you see the trail head for Copper Creek Trails. Nice, secluded trail. will come back next time to spend more time here. read more

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WHOA!! What a super great and fun trail to go hiking on! To get to the parking spots, you will find a small area to pull off into just before you pull into the town on San Elijo Hills. You will see this small triangle little area and just park along the side. This area is known as the Questhaven Pacific View. When you start your hike, you will hike along the side of a building and that will take you to the start of the trail. Make sure you bring your water with you and keep an eye out because there are runners and bikers that are on the path as well. There are no dogs on the trail. This trail gets narrow at times and follows along the path of a beautiful stream. If you keep walking you will pass over a couple of bridges and the cool thing is to take a look into the water! There are so many crayfish in the water!! This is a great hike. I would recommend going with a friend and not by yourself just for safety reasons. read more

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Okay this is a fun hike. I feel like this is really good for a beginner. There are different trails that veer off the trail that are harder going the opposite way. I've been here a couple times and went during spring time and it was absolutely gorgeous everything was so green the water was flowing there are waterfalls in the back of the hike which is absolutely stunning! Went a couple of weeks ago everything is kind of brown and over grown. So it was kind of hard to see the waterfalls. You can climb down a small trail to see the waterfalls. There is a stone bridge there where you can stand on to get a better view of the waterfalls. It's an excellent Trail for kids no dogs allowed. There are even little crawdads in the water which is kind of fun. My husband was catching them with some beef jerky that we had and just taking pictures and throwing them back in... no crawdads were injured lol. Just a cool little gem to go to! I recommend if you're a hiker to use this app alltrails it is awesome!! read more

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Beautiful trail and many mini trail options. It starts out on the outside of an industrial-type park then goes back into the valley. For a moderate hike, keep left at the trail head split to get an elevated view. On a clear day you can see the ocean from the top. For the waterfall/creek and more of a nature stroll keep right onto the thinner path. read more

I had such high hopes for this trail that I brought little kids aging from teenager down to 2 years old and my mother who is 65 but not from San Diego so has a different form of Fitness level compared to regular elderly women from San Diego. Getting to the falls is possible for teenagers and FIT hikers. However it is not accessible for any young children or older people that are not in great shape. There is a steep dangerous spot that you have to be able to get down into to get to the falls and be able to just sit and hang out and enjoy it. I'm posting pictures of that said Steep Hill so you can see for yourself if it's doable for you my son is in the picture he's 13 he's extremely fit and it shows him crawling out of it so this let you know how steep it is. Speaking for myself I had no issues getting in and out of there but I hike regularly moderate and hard hikes. So if you are a moderate to hard hiker or you just want some Adventure in your life or cute Trail just to walk down this is definitely a very nice and tranquil Trail to walk down got some different scenery and some shaded areas. Unfortunately it was too dangerous for more than half of the kids to go down and some of the adults to go down so it was a bust when we got there. read more

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Neat trail! It's a little overgrown but that makes it neat. I enjoyed seeing the Crawfish. I might take a hot dog next time, so I can try to catch one. read more

Copper Creek Falls Trail - Restricted Access - Hiking Near Me - San Marcos, California

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A great hike! We were beat after it but that's because we're out of shape. We started at 12 or so and there weren't many people. We came across a lot more around 1:30. Beware of snakes, we passed two. There are a lot of flowers due to the rain. A lot of trees fell from the recent rain and wind storm we had. The weather was pleasant, not too warm until the afternoon. I made a Muffaletta for lunch and we ate it near the big waterfall. I had some yellow stuff on my finger and I assumed it was bug poop since I didn't put any mustard in my sandwich. Weird, I didn't see any bugs around. So, watch out for pooping ninja bugs. Important! Wear long pants. There's a lot of overgrowth that'll brush your legs. I'd assume that would be unpleasant through the whole hike. read more

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Nice little hiking/biking single track, once you get past the abandoned water treatment plant. Took my 8- and 5- year old boys, they had no trouble navigating the trails, they had a blast seeing the waterfall and checking out the crawfish and bugs in the stream. It was Saturday 10:30 AM when we started, so there were several couple hiking, running, and mountain biking on the trail. Seems pretty safe and friendly. No dogs allowed. No bathrooms anywhere that I saw. Check your skin for ticks after getting back to your car! Lots of ticks out there now (mid-March on a warm day). read more

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As other yelps contend, it is a bit difficult to find, but once you find the Parking there are several hiking trails to choose from. There are a variety of hiking trails from beginner to more experienced in different altitudes in sceneries. The Pitch of the various trails is good for a variety of hikers. The scenery is dependent upon the season winter, they're typically is overgrowth of trees and brush the trailhead is easy to find in the hikesAre breathtaking. These trails also have mountain bike trails so whether it's hiking or biking this trail has it all including great scenery be careful of snakes in the winter read more

Moved here from the mountains of Colorado 5 months ago. Had so many beautiful hikes within 10 minutes of my home. So hard to judge the hikes here. This one was interesting. Once you find the place, you do walk past that old waste treatment plant. It has a creepy vibe. There's a guy that lives there in an RV and I actually saw him walking around behind the chain link fence today. After about 1/4 mile, you'll arrive at the trailhead. Different hiking options and I took a couple of them today. Hiked for almost two hours and found this hike to be more pleasant than others I've tried in North County. It's a keeper. read more

Small place but is good to take the kids out for a little bit also they can learned about a different kind of plants

where exactly is this place..went there..but I think we may have went the wrong place...address steered us into shopping plaza..think it was Albertsons. Will try it again, but go the other direction. :) read more

This was a really fun trail!! It was super easy and kind of hard to figure out tho, you go past the electrical building and there's a sign that says "trail" and and arrow pointing left, GO RIGHT it's not marked very well. But keep following the unlaced path and you'll reach a little bridge and that's how to you you're close. Keep going and you will see a small Canyon and that's where the old mine is and waterfalls. We hung out for an hour and hate lunch and took pics. Such a good day! Please pick up your trash as it's rude of people to litter and ruin this habitat. NO DOGS on this trail either. Parking can be tricky.. we parked about a quarter mile before the trail in the housing complex next the a small park. And walked up. read more

Copper Creek Falls Trail - Restricted Access - The falls ! - Hiking Near Me - San Marcos, California

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trails are fun & easy. just make sure you dont bring dogs...(not allowed, even on leash)