Traverse Creek Falls to Bear Creek Falls

I started the day off by waking up at 7AM and hit the freeway at 8Am. I arrived at the trailhead on Traverse Creek Road at 9:30AM. It was sunny as I started but I could see the clouds on their way in but the weather report said it was going to rain around 5PM. Which was not the case.

I started down the well groomed trail with Nala and quickly came to a spur trail leading down to the Creek. You can see the spur trail in the bottom left corner with the normal trail heading off to the right.



Once I got to the bottom there was a cool little cascade so I took some pictures
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Then it was time to head back up to the main trail. Here is the incline I would have had to climb



So I decided to just follow the creek and save some energy. After walking for a while I came across where a unnamed stream and Traverse creek confluence was. The traverse Creek being on the right and the other creek (not sure what the name is) is on the left. It is a little hard to see as I could not get a wide enough shot.


Still hiking along the creek I came across a set of 5foot mini falls


Here is the same falls but with a view of downstream, just minutes before Traverse Falls



After the mini falls I came up to Traverse falls after a third of a mile of hiking. You are heading downstream so you arrive at the top of the falls and are treated to a spectacular view of a crystal clear lagoon at the bottom of the falls.




To get to the bottom of the falls there is a large rock you have to climb over just to the right of where the above picture was taken. It is a very steep descent to the bottom but on the other side of the rock someone was kind enough to attach some thick wire and rope to a tree to help on your way down. Once at the bottom you are hit with this stunning visual



This is where Nala and I decided to take a short break, enjoy the view and much on some beef jerky.



In the picture below you can see the creek continuing down and can also see the start of a trail on the right. Right below the trail is where I took a break and the above pix. This trail quickly led up and away from the creek so I just slid down to the creek and followed along it along.



After heading back down to the creek, I was on the right side, here is what I came across.


And here is video from that spot


As you can see there was no easy way to follow the creek so I had to backtrack a tad and cross the creek.

My plan was to follow Traverse Creek until I came across Bear Creek and follow that upstream. Well I did not see it but Traverse Creek split so when it met back up I followed it for about 10 minutes before realizing I was going the wrong way. A little hard to tell from this picture but the false trail led me right under this fallen tree


To a very crystal clear pond




And here is where I decided to turn around. It is a little hard to see but the creek curves to the right near the back of the picture which would have led me to where I just was, telling me that it was the same creek.


After a not so bad half mile scramble you get your first glimpse of Bear Creek with about a half mile to go to Bear Creek Falls.


The hiking gets extremely tough from here on out. As you can see the canyon walls are pretty steep and covered in poison oak which makes you have to cross the creek several times. If it wasn’t so pretty here then the trip would seem even longer.

As I was hiking along the clouds started to come in and I was thinking I should turn back. Just as I was about to call Nala back so we could get out of there I could hear the falls. So onward I hiked and came into a beautiful lagoon with a 40 foot waterfall.



And of course to prove I was there I had to take the infamous self portrait shot.

And here is a video to get the full effect of just how nice it is



On the way back out I came across a 10 foot mini fall that I had missed on my way in as I was on the other side of the creek. There is a deep pool of water at the end of it that I will most certainly take a dip (I would have if it wasn’t raining and cold) in the next time I take this trek.


I plan on getting to the top of the falls and hiking in a little farther upstream to where there may be some more falls. All in all it took just under 5 hours to go about 2 and a half miles. I was dead tired afterwards but look forward to going again and finding more waterfalls.


View Traverse Creek Falls to Bear Creek Falls in a larger map

Here is a picture and video of the falls from the second hike before the camera stopped working.