Fall Creek

Fall Creek is a short beautiful canyon with a series of 4 rappels in quick succession. It usually has water flowing year round but dies down to a trickle or completely dries up over the summer months. Just after a lot of rain, water flow could pose a concern, or just make it a lot more fun! It is a great beginner canyon with a relatively short approach hike on a disused fire road and all of the drops are bolted. To break up the hike and make things a bit more interesting it is common to do Fall Creek with Classic Canyon. To do this, descend Classic into Big Tujunga Canyon and hike upstream until you hit the old fire road that takes you up to Fall Creek. There is an excessive amount of Poison Oak in this drainage that can be hard to avoid. Take Hand Shears and/or loppers. It is also possible to drop-in via Lucas Creek (Lower), Camp Five Canyon, Overlook Canyon or Overlooked Gulch. These options require a short car shuttle but cut the approach hike down a bit. All 3 of these canyons are marked on the kml.

Leave nothing visible in your car as there have been break-ins and even stolen cars in this area. From the parking area go through the white gate and down the fire road. At just over 1 mile you will pass Classic canyon (marked on the kml). You have the option of leaving the edison road here, descending Classic and hiking upstream a little ways in Big Tujunga Creek, eventually joining the Edison road again as it climbs the North side of Big Tujunga Canyon. Otherwise continue on down the Edison road. A little over 1.5 miles from the white gate the road crosses Big Tujunga Creek. The road is no longer maintained for any portion of this hike and as such is completely washed away here. There is an old section of the concrete ford & Low Water Bridge still on the creek bed. Find your way across the creek and up the Edison road on the other side. As you climb the road, stop and carefully survey the route back up the creek to the road crossing -- it can be surprisingly difficult to find the crossing later when you're down in the canyon because brush will divert you around the bridge. About 1/2 a mile from here is where the first drop-in is. There are 3 option of where to drop-in. They are listed shortest to longest. The first option being the quickest access the technical portion of the canyon. 1. The most direct option is from the edison road around 34.3078, -118.1633 you will see a use trail on the side of the ridge that heads down into a small tributary and into the canyon. The trail may be faint depending on brush growth. Follow this drainage (staying on the right side of the ridge) into Fall Creek. There is a short down-climb at the bottom where it joins Fall Creek. This option puts you closest to the top of the technical section. The other 2 options put you progressively further up the canyon. 2. Continue along the edison road until you see a metal drainage channel (slide) that goes down into the canyon on your left. If you choose this option be VERY careful of the sharp metal edges and ALWAYS wear gloves. 3. The classic drop-in where the Edison road crosses Fall Creek. Turn left and follow the creek down. As of Feb 2018 there is one tricky log jam that requires crawling on the ground and some poison oak to negotiate, but it is doable.

Rappel 1: 40 feet. Anchored to 2 bolts DCR. A short waterfall that drops into a small bowl. Very slippery. It can also be rappelled further DCR to avoid the water. Rappel 2: 45 feet. Anchored off 2 bolts DCL. In the past rappel 2 & 3 have been done as 1 rappel. There are bolts now to break these up and make the rope pull easier. Check the bolts on the 3rd rappel before pulling your rope. There can also be a pool of water here depending on conditions. Rappel 3: 25 feet. Anchored off 2 bolts DCR. Rappel 4: 75 feet. There are 2 sets of bolts DCL, the ones farther back provide a more comfortable start and do not present any pull issues. This rappel drops you straight down into Big Tujunga Canyon. It's a nice rappel and you most likely get a sprinkling of water depending on flow. At the base of this waterfall there can be a pool.