Alamere Falls

On Sunday, July 10th, I hiked to Alamere Falls. I've been wanting to hike here since early Spring but never got the chance until now. We haven't had any rain in a while but as you can tell, the falls were still roaring and beautiful. I would love to come back after a good rain!

The hike to Alamere Falls is easy to moderate and definitely heavily trafficked. If you plan to take the route that I did, it is an 8.5 mile out-and back hike. I took the route that most people take which begins at the Palomarin Trailhead, goes along the Coast Trail, and eventually into an unmaintained trail that is out of no where. You should note that this route is not recommend by the National Park Service because you will have to climb down rocks and cliffs and the trail is not kept up. I would not recommend bringing kids here and dogs are not allowed on the trails even though we saw some.

If you plan to come to the falls, arm yourself with bug spray, sun block, toilet paper, a packed lunch, LOTS of water, and get ready for a journey!

You will want to type in Palomarin Trailhead - Alamere Falls into Google Maps and it will take you directly to the parking lot.

Like you will see most hike reviewers and Yelpers say, GO EARLY! According to everyone else, if you get there after 10 AM, you will begin your hike from the side of the road where you have to park if you can't get a spot in the small lot. We got there around 8:45 AM and there were only about 10 cars in the lot. When we came back around 2 PM, cars were parked about a mile from the lot.

Another note, the road isn't paved and is bumpy and gravel when you get close to the lot. Keep that in mind before you drive your fancy car out. We saw a Lexus stuck and abandoned when we arrived. There are bathrooms (not kept up with) in the parking lot but I recommend bringing your own toilet paper and/or wipes because they were out when I went.

Weather: Because you walk along the coast, it is pretty cool. Half the hike is walking in the open with the sun shining on you and half is shaded by trees.

Attire: Layers, long pants, shoes with good grip, and sunglasses or something to cover your eyes for the descent down the cliffs to the falls.

I wore a sweater over my tank top because many people said that there was going to be a lot of poison oak everywhere. I took off my sweater within the first 15 minutes of the hike and didn't need to put it back on. I also didn't see any poison oak on my trip but that doesn't mean it's not there. I recommend wearing long pants because you will be climbing down rocks and cliffs to the falls and you can easily scrape your legs up. It gets super windy so the shades or eye covers will help as you climb down!

Here is my best friend and I starting our hike!

Some notes about the hike: Walk up the set of stairs to the left of the bathroom from the parking lot and you will begin your hike. Follow the signs for Coast Trail. After about 4 miles or so (I recommend tracking on your phone or FitBit), you should come across a makeshift sign on the floor made of stacked rocks and sticks. This makeshift sign will be on your left, on the floor, shortly after the two official signs on your right. Of the two official signs, one says Unmaintained Trail and one says Coast Trail. Keep walking forward and LOOK FOR THIS MAKESHIFT SIGN AND KEEP TRACK OF YOUR MILES! I did research before my hike and was looking for this sign AND still walked past it. So did many others. Let's just say our 8.5 mile hike turned into 13 miles. If you keep walking and come across another two official signs that will eventually lead you up a mountain and down to "Wild Cat Camp Trail", you went too far.

Pictured above is us lost and past the trail away from the falls. Many people walked past the makeshift sign I mentioned earlier. Even though we got lost, trekked up this huge mountain full of incline, and hiked extra unnecessary miles, the view at the top was breathtaking. We ended up eating lunch at this bench. If you're lost and get to the location pictured above, look to the left and you can actually see all the people at the bottom of the falls. That's how we figured out that we went too far :) Now back to hunt for the makeshift sign again.

Here is a picture from Chloe H. on Yelp of the makeshift signs that I'm referencing. When i went, it looked a little bit different but similar to this. LOOK FOR THE SIGN. I REPEAT. LOOK FOR THE SIGN.

The entrance by the sign looks like this. It looks intimidating, but it eventually opens up to a wider area. Not extremely wide, but wider than pictured by Macon R. on Yelp. Once you reach this area, you are almost there!

About the cliffs: After you enter the opening by the makeshift sign and make it out to the open area, you will have to descend down the cliffs. There was a line of people waiting to get down because the same way you go down, is the same way you have to come up so people were taking turns. I thought the climb down was not super bad BUT could understand why it is difficult for others, especially if your shoes don't have a good grip. I didn't take any pictures because I was busy trying not to fall down the cliffs and die :).

Side note: The National Park Service doesn't recommend this route because the rocks can break off as you climb down due to erosion so PLEASE BE CAREFUL.

After you get down the first set of rocks, you will see three beautiful mini waterfalls! Pictured above is one of the three waterfalls.

Pictured above is the top of the falls. It was pretty amazing! Just me and my BFF! Now for our journey down the other rock to get down to the falls...

WE MADE IT!

Stood right under the falls!

Our thoughts about the hike: After we enjoyed the falls, we made our trek back up the rocks and back to the lot. We were glad that we ate lunch at the top by the bench where we got lost because there were SO many people at the bottom. There was music playing and just not as quiet as we wanted or private. Despite the crowd, we truly enjoyed the hike, the adventures getting here, and the beauty of the falls. Would I come back? Maybe in a few years. Definitely a hike that I recommend for others to do at least once!

Me at the top of the beautiful Alamere Falls :)

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