Epic Travel → North America → The West Coast → Southern California → San Diego Area → East County → Three Sisters Falls

Location: Cuyamaca Rancho State Park area, east of San Diego

Time Required: 2 hours (hiking time – the drive to the trailhead is also fairly time consuming so plan accordingly)

Distance: 4 miles

Elevation Gain/Loss: 1,100 feet

Red Tape/Notes: No permit required or access issues. Can get extremely hot in the summer.

What’s Nearby?: Descanso, Kitchen Creek, Old Highway 80, Julian, Eagle and High Peak Gold Mine

This hike is enjoyable for a little excursion if you’re home on a spring weekend and have nothing better to do. I know a lot of people think of this as a challenging hike or an “adventure”, and you will get a little more excitement than you would on something like the Potato Chip Rock hike, but really it’s just a little rock hopping. The hike itself is fairly boring for most of its length, although you did get a view to the falls early on and get to watch it grow steadily larger as you approach. There are sections of pretty wildflowers in the spring, and you descend into a nice green, wooded area at the low point of the hike before ascending again somewhat to reach the falls. Near the falls you reach the rocky section of the trail, but it’s a short stretch and then you’re on to smooth rock at the edge of the falls. You’ll see crowds of people, many of them with beer. Once you get to the falls, you can cross the stream and follow use trails to the higher levels. We hiked up above the top waterfall and explored a bit upstream – we’re planning to do a top-down descent next spring, starting higher up Boulder Creek, which will hopefully provide an alternate opportunity for enjoying the area, because it really is very pretty.

Epic Travel → North America → The West Coast → Southern California → San Diego Area → East County → Three Sisters Falls