Little known waterfalls around Barbier Park / San Pedro Mountain
The San Pedro Mountain area in San Rafael - Barbier Park, San Pedro Mountain Open Space Preserve, China Camp State Park, etc
Barbier Park
Unnamed creek almost north of the east end of Locust Drive
- waterfall at (37.98485, -122.50579):

Beauty: 4
Beauty: 3 (including beauty of the hike to the falls)
Duration: 7 days after a significant rainfall
Height 9 feet (broadly defined)
Height 7 feet
Biggest vertical drop 2 feet
Terrain: woods, little or no trail
route: Follow the creek up from the lower part of Gold Hill Grade
Last visited 2010-12-26
id: barbier.1
- waterfall at (37.98549, -122.50551):


view from the top:

Beauty: 5
Beauty: 4 (including beauty of the hike to the falls)
Duration: 7 days after a significant rainfall
Height 20 feet
Biggest vertical drop 3 feet
Terrain: woods, little or no trail
route: Follow the creek up from the lower part of Gold Hill Grade
Last visited 2010-12-26
id: barbier.2
- This waterfall has an 8+ foot long cave under the bottom drop (I couldn't see the end of the cave) at (37.98639, -122.50528):



upper drop:

It's near the third palm tree you pass as you follow the creek up from Gold Hill Grade.
There's a 26 foot waterslide at the previous palm, which doesn't quite fit my definition of a waterfall.
Beauty: 6
Beauty: 4 (including beauty of the hike to the falls)
Duration: 7 days after a significant rainfall
Height 15 feet
Biggest vertical drop 4 feet
Number of drops 3
Terrain: woods, little or no trail
route: Follow the creek up from the lower part of Gold Hill Grade
Last visited 2010-12-26
id: barbier.3
Unnamed creek main (northeast) branch of the creek that follows Locust Drive
- waterfall at (37.98432, -122.50339):
Poor gps reception - coordinates may be unreliable

Beauty: 4
Beauty: 3 (including beauty of the hike to the falls)
Duration: 10 days after a significant rainfall
Height 7 feet (broadly defined)
Height 6 feet
Biggest vertical drop 2 feet
Terrain: woods, little or no trail
route: Follow the creek down from an unmarked trail between the upper part of Gold Hill Grade and Bay Hills Fire Rd
Last visited 2010-12-26
id: barbier.4
- waterfall at (37.98431, -122.50331):
the lower half:


upper half, hiding under a palm:


Beauty: 3
Duration: 10 days after a significant rainfall
Height 13 feet (broadly defined)
Height 10 feet
Biggest vertical drop 4 feet
Number of drops 3
Terrain: woods, little or no trail
route: Follow the creek down from an unmarked trail between the upper part of Gold Hill Grade and Bay Hills Fire Rd
Last visited 2010-12-26
id: barbier.5
- waterfall at (37.98512, -122.50272):




There's a faint trail at the top which might be a slightly easier route to this (I haven't tried it)
Beauty: 4
Beauty: 5 (including beauty of the hike to the falls)
Duration: 10 days after a significant rainfall
Height 28 feet (broadly defined)
Height 9 feet
Biggest vertical drop 4 feet
Number of drops 4
Terrain: woods, little or no trail
route: Follow the creek down from an unmarked trail between the upper part of Gold Hill Grade and Bay Hills Fire Rd
Last visited 2010-12-26
id: barbier.6
- waterfall at (37.98540, -122.50241):

the lower drop:

the main drop:

Beauty: 6
Beauty: 5 (including beauty of the hike to the falls)
Duration: 10 days after a significant rainfall
Height 31 feet
Biggest vertical drop 9 feet
Number of drops 2
Terrain: woods, little or no trail
route: Follow the creek down from an unmarked trail between the upper part of Gold Hill Grade and Bay Hills Fire Rd
Last visited 2010-12-26
id: barbier.7
- waterfall at (37.98536, -122.50257):


Beauty: 3
Duration: 10 days after a significant rainfall
Height 15 feet (broadly defined)
Height 13 feet
Biggest vertical drop 3 feet
Number of drops 2
Terrain: woods, little or no trail
route: Follow the creek down from an unmarked trail between the upper part of Gold Hill Grade and Bay Hills Fire Rd
Last visited 2010-12-26
id: barbier.8
- waterfall at (37.98579, -122.50250):



looking down at upper part:

It's not very photogenic.
The top is relatively easy to reach, at the end of a nice meadow, but the scramble down to get a decent view is fairly steep.
Beauty: 8
Duration: 10 days after a significant rainfall
Height 34 feet (broadly defined)
Height 25 feet
Biggest vertical drop 20 feet
Number of drops 3
Terrain: fields, no trail
route: Follow the creek down from an unmarked trail between the upper part of Gold Hill Grade and Bay Hills Fire Rd
Last visited 2010-12-26
id: barbier.9
Unnamed creek north/northwest of the Locust Drive trailhead
- waterfall at (37.98440, -122.50858):

Beauty: 4
Beauty: 5 (including beauty of the hike to the falls)
Duration: 4 days after a significant rainfall
Height 25 feet (broadly defined)
Height 10 feet
Biggest vertical drop 5 feet
Number of drops 3
Terrain: woods, little or no trail
route: just below Gold Hill Grade; easier to reach from the west side of the stream
Last visited 2010-12-26
id: barbier.10
Black Canyon Creek
- waterfall at (37.99312, -122.50791):
Name: Mountain View Falls
view from below - upper parts hard to see due to lighting:



upper part of the main drop, with what I'm calling the 2nd drop on the left:

the 2nd drop:

looking down from the top of the 3rd drop:

the 4th drop:

looking up from the 5th drop:

the 6th and 7th drops:

a little farther up; I'm not including these as part of the falls:

view from 250 yards west on the J T Howell trail; there's a person in the center standing about 20 feet above the top of the main drop; the uppermost 2 drops are visible toward the upper left:

The main drop, which is visible from the bottom, is at least 70 feet. There are more drops above totalling 35 to 50 feet. I'm inclined to count 6 of those upper drops as part of the falls. Parts of the falls can be seen from the road.
Beauty: 9
Beauty: 8 (including beauty of the hike to the falls)
Duration: 20 days after a significant rainfall
Height 110 feet (broadly defined)
Height 70 feet
Biggest vertical drop 20 feet
Number of drops 7
Terrain: unofficial trail, frequently used
route: Drive to the north end of Mountain View Ave. A bit to the right of the road's end, there is a short path (not obviously public, but if you start up it will become clear that it's heavily used. A crude trail follows the creek up from the base of the falls to the J T Howell trail.
Last visited 2011-03-01
id: barbier.11
- waterfall at (37.99530, -122.50370):

Beauty: 2
Duration: 14 days after a significant rainfall
Height 6 feet
Biggest vertical drop 3 feet
Number of drops 2
Terrain: woods, little or no trail
Last visited 2011-03-01
id: barbier.12
Unnamed creek flowing from near the north tip of Barbier Park south to meet the main creek just below an elevation of 600 feet
- waterfall at (37.99590, -122.50501):


view from top:

Beauty: 5
Duration: 7 days after a significant rainfall
Height 21 feet (broadly defined)
Height 15 feet
Biggest vertical drop 1 feet
Terrain: woods, little or no trail
Last visited 2011-03-01
id: barbier.13
- waterfall at (37.99593, -122.50496):

Beauty: 4.5
Duration: 7 days after a significant rainfall
Height 11 feet
Biggest vertical drop 2 feet
Number of drops 2
Terrain: moderate brush, little or no trail
Last visited 2011-03-01
id: barbier.14
Unnamed creek flowing south, meeting Black Canyon Creek 0.1 mile upstream from Mountain View Falls
- waterfall at (37.9939, -122.5068):
gps coordinates estimated from map, reliability unknown

Beauty: 3
Duration: 7 days after a significant rainfall
Height 6 feet
Biggest vertical drop 3 feet
Terrain: woods, little or no trail
Last visited 2011-03-01
id: barbier.15
- waterfall at (37.99455, -122.50688):

just below a trail
Beauty: 3
Duration: 4 days after a significant rainfall
Height 6 feet
Biggest vertical drop 2 feet
Number of drops 1
Terrain: unofficial trail, frequently used
Last visited 2011-03-01
id: barbier.16
Unnamed creek creek reaching the north end of Mountain View Ave from the northwest
- waterfall at (37.99279, -122.51063):



Beauty: 4
Duration: 4 days after a significant rainfall
Height 22 feet (broadly defined)
Height 14 feet
Biggest vertical drop 3 feet
Terrain: unofficial trail, frequently used
Last visited 2011-03-01
id: barbier.21
Unnamed creek small side stream flowing southeast from near the top of the Woodoaks trail
- waterfall at (37.99566, -122.51061):

Beauty: 3
Duration: 4 days after a significant rainfall
Height 14 feet (broadly defined)
Height 12 feet
Biggest vertical drop 2 feet
Number of drops 2
Terrain: woods, little or no trail
Last visited 2011-03-01
id: barbier.17
- waterfall at (37.99602, -122.51089):


Beauty: 3.5
Duration: 4 days after a significant rainfall
Height 12 feet (broadly defined)
Height 6 feet
Biggest vertical drop 2 feet
Terrain: woods, little or no trail
Last visited 2011-03-01
id: barbier.18
- waterfall at (37.99622, -122.51100):

Beauty: 3.5
Duration: 4 days after a significant rainfall
Height 10 feet (broadly defined)
Height 8 feet
Biggest vertical drop 2 feet
Number of drops 1
Terrain: woods, little or no trail
Last visited 2011-03-01
id: barbier.19
- waterfall at (37.99625, -122.51114):
gps coordinates estimated from map, reliability unknown

Beauty: 3
Duration: 4 days after a significant rainfall
Height 6 feet
Biggest vertical drop 1 feet
Number of drops 1
Terrain: woods, little or no trail
Last visited 2011-03-01
id: barbier.20
Unnamed creek creek flowing southeast toward Oakdale Ave
- waterfall at (37.99076, -122.51477):


Beauty: 5
Duration: 4 days after a significant rainfall
Height 22 feet (broadly defined)
Height 20 feet
Biggest vertical drop 2 feet
Number of drops 3
Terrain: woods, little or no trail
Last visited 2011-02-17
id: barbier.27
- waterfall at (37.99142, -122.51499):

Beauty: 4
Duration: 4 days after a significant rainfall
Height 18 feet (broadly defined)
Height 6 feet
Number of drops 3
Terrain: woods, little or no trail
Last visited 2011-02-17
id: barbier.28
Unnamed creek creek flowing southeast toward Convent Ct
- waterfall at (37.98936, -122.51541):

Beauty: 5
Duration: 4 days after a significant rainfall
Height 10 feet
Biggest vertical drop 2 feet
Terrain: woods, little or no trail
route: near a palm tree
Last visited 2011-02-17
id: barbier.25
- waterfall at (37.99018, -122.51557):

Beauty: 5
Duration: 4 days after a significant rainfall
Height 19 feet (broadly defined)
Height 10 feet
Biggest vertical drop 3 feet
Number of drops 2
Terrain: woods, little or no trail
route: below the J T Howell trail
Last visited 2011-02-17
id: barbier.26
Unnamed creek creek flowing east toward Convent Ct
- waterfall at (37.98902, -122.51694):

Beauty: 4
Duration: 2 days after a significant rainfall
Height 10 feet
Biggest vertical drop 1 feet
Terrain: woods, little or no trail
Last visited 2011-02-17
id: barbier.24
Unnamed creek creek flowing south toward Glen Park Ave
- waterfall at (37.99009, -122.52178):

Beauty: 4
Duration: 3 days after a significant rainfall
Height 8 feet (broadly defined)
Height 4 feet
Biggest vertical drop 2 feet
Terrain: woods, little or no trail
route: just upstream from an unnamed trail
Last visited 2011-02-17
id: barbier.22
- waterfall at (37.98900, -122.52225):

Beauty: 4
Duration: 3 days after a significant rainfall
Height 10 feet (broadly defined)
Height 6 feet
Biggest vertical drop 2 feet
Terrain: woods, little or no trail
Last visited 2011-02-17
id: barbier.23
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