Rose Valley Falls
- Location: North of Ojai in the Los Padres National Forest. From the town of Ojai, head north on highway 33 for 14 miles (25 miles from Highway 101 in Ventura) to Rose Valley Road. Turn right and go 3.1 miles to Rose Valley Lake Road. Turn right and drive 0.3 miles to the end of the road and park in the campground by the signed trailhead to Rose Valley falls. Day use fee is $10. Click here for more information.
- Agency: Los Padres National Forest/Ojai Ranger District
- Distance: 0.8 miles
- Elevation gain: 250 feet
- Suggested time: 45 minutes
- Difficulty rating: G
- Best season: Year round (best after recent rain)
- USGS topo map: Lion Canyon
- Recommended guidebook: Easy Hiking in Southern California
- More information: Trip reports here and here; Everytrail report here
- Rating: 6
This is one of Southern California’s tallest–and most unusual looking–waterfalls. Unfortunately, the spectacular upper tier, visible from the campground, is not easily accessible to hikers; the short walk through the woods brings you to the lower tier, which is not a bad consolation prize. Even if there’s not much water–which there isn’t as of this writing–the limestone and sandstone cliffs, underneath the shade of oaks, is a nice spot for a picnic or to hang out and enjoy nature.
From the end of the campground, begin hiking uphill on the signed trail. After crossing the creek, the trail continues to climb, mostly in the shade, occasionally providing a glimpse of the upper level of the falls. The trail rises above the creek, passing over a smaller waterfall. Soon, you arrive at the bottom level. There are a few rocks that you can climb to get a good view of it.
Obviously, Rose Valley Falls is a very short hike to do if you’re driving a long way to get to the Los Padres National Forest, but there are quite a few other good trails in the area to check out, such as Potrero John and Piedras Blancas. With time off for the upcoming holidays, and traffic likely to be lighter than usual, L.A. hikers might want to consider making a trip up here to check out Rose Valley Falls and some of its neighbors.
Ohhh, I need to check this one out.
Yeah, it’s a nice one. Enjoy, and thanks for reading!
Thanks for this one. I’m doing it, this weekend. I need to buy sunblock. 😀
Doing some research and it looks like parking outside the campground is free now, $10 day use fee within the campground, per https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/lpnf/recarea/?recid=11047 (sees the same with a lot in the area now that PMC has taken over).
Thanks for the heads up and the info link. Haven’t made it up there to Rose Valley for quite a while, not surprising to hear that things have changed.