Little known waterfalls around Henry Coe State Park
Henry Coe State Park
Pacheco Creek
- waterfall at (37.14143, -121.40796):
Name: Pacheco Falls

the lower part:

A bit more of the lower 36 feet (partly hidden by trees):

A series of cascades and pools, adding up to between 65 and 90 feet depending on whether I include the waterslides at the top or only the sections that have vertical drops. The lowest two drops are about 18 feet each. The others are smaller. It's hard to see much more than half the falls from one spot, so the total size is relatively hard to evaluate.
Beauty: 9
Beauty: 10 (including beauty of the hike to the falls)
Duration: 60 days after a significant rainfall
Height 90 feet (broadly defined)
Height 65 feet
Biggest vertical drop 12 feet
Number of drops 6
Terrain: official trail, not well maintained
route: It's normally reached via a very scenic 20 mile hike (4000 feet elevation gain) from the Coyote Creek trailhead. The simplest (but not best) route follows Coit Road to the ridge after Coit Lake, turns right, then takes the next left and stays right after that. There are shorter and more scenic routes that start up Grizzly Gulch. After seeing the bottom, be sure to look for an unofficial side trail about 150 feet higer that traverses to a view of the upper part.
The falls can also be reached from the Dowdy Ranch entrance (not open very often) with a 17 mile hike with 3400 feet of elevation gain. During the annual back country weekend, you can drive to County Line Road and reach the falls via an 11 mile hike with 3200 feet of elevation gain.
id: coe.1
Unnamed creek in Grizzly Gulch
- waterfall in Grizzly Gulch at (37.10606, -121.45529):


Beauty: 8
Beauty: 9 (including beauty of the hike to the falls)
Duration: 30 days after a significant rainfall
Height 18 feet (broadly defined)
Height 16 feet
Biggest vertical drop 10 feet
Number of drops 1
Terrain: vague hints of a trail
route: The shortest route from an official trail starts from a small ridge on the Grizzly Gulch trail about halfway between the Cullen trail and the Tower trail. There's something vaguely resembling a path that goes southeast from there, crossing the bottom of the gully and descending steeply through bushes and poison oak (not too thick) on the northeast side of the gully.
id: coe.2
Little Fork Coyote Creek
- waterfall at (37.18189, -121.51061):

It's about 1/3 mile upstream from the lower end of the Middle Ridge Trail.
Beauty: 6
Duration: 45 days after a significant rainfall
Height 10 feet (broadly defined)
Height 8 feet
Biggest vertical drop 3 feet
Terrain: woods, little or no trail
route: I reached this waterfall by following the creek upstream from the Middle Ridge Trail, and then headed up Middle Ridge to rejoin the trail where it crossed over to the south side of the ridge more than a mile uphill. Neither route was wise. While scrambling along the side of the creek, I kept telling myself I could continue without getting my feet wet. The terrain kept getting steeper until I eventually had no choice but to get one foot somewhat wet. If I take that route again, I'll plan to wade up the creek. But in a rainy April, the flow would be too strong for that. I'm guessing the sensible route would be from Poverty Flat Road nearly due south of the falls.
id: coe.3
- waterfall at (37.19628, -121.53233):

I'll need to return someday when it has more than a trickle.
Beauty: 4
Duration: 45 days after a significant rainfall
Height 8 feet
Biggest vertical drop 8 feet
Terrain: streambed with some rock climbing
route: about 1/4 mile downstream from the Fish Trail
Last visited 2010-06-19
id: coe.4
Kelly Creek
- waterfall at (37.12289, -121.42928):

Just downstream from Kelly Lake (presumably formed when the Kelly Lake dam diverted the stream). It's hard to see because it faces into bushes.
Beauty: 3
Beauty: 6 (including beauty of the hike to the falls)
Duration: 30 days after a significant rainfall
Height 12 feet (broadly defined)
Height 10 feet
Biggest vertical drop 5 feet
Terrain: official trail, not well maintained
Last visited 2010-03-28
id: coe.5
Mississippi Creek
- about 100 feet upstream from Bear Springs at (37.21946, -121.43511):
(picture by someone crazy enough to get there in January).
It was dry when I saw it. It will be hard to visit when it's actually running. You can get there by a 15 mile hike on a backcountry weekend, when it might be running in a wetter than average spring. Or you can do it as a 24 mile hike from the main entrance, but when the waterfall is running nicely that will involve some unpleasant stream crossings.
Beauty: 5
Beauty: 7 (including beauty of the hike to the falls)
Duration: 16 days after a significant rainfall
Height 10 feet
Biggest vertical drop 8 feet
Terrain: official trail, not well maintained
id: coe.6
Unnamed creek in Braen Canyon. Braen Canyon has a number of small waterfalls. I've only visited them while they're dry so far. We went up what seems to be the largest and most central fork. It required a little rock climbing, but was otherwise not too hard to reach by starting up the Middle Steer Ridge trail and following a faint trail to the right where the creek forks. But the first waterfall may be impassible in the rainy season (the two obvious routes went up each channel of the falls), so I'd want to get there from the Bowl Trail instead.
Unnamed creek east fork of the creek in Braen Canyon.
Unnamed creek flowing south from Mt Sizer
- waterfall at (37.20621, -121.52112):


There appeared to be one or more upper drops that I didn't get a good view of. It takes a lot of effort to reach this, and I don't think it's worth the effort.
Beauty: 6
Duration: 25 days after a significant rainfall
Height 20 feet (broadly defined)
Height 10 feet
Biggest vertical drop 10 feet
Terrain: steep slopes with rock outcroppings
route: From the summit of Mt. Sizer, follow one of the streams flowing south.
Last visited 2011-04-16
id: coe.12
- waterfall at (37.20457, -121.52299):


It takes a lot of effort to reach this, and I don't think it's worth the effort.
Beauty: 4.5
Duration: 25 days after a significant rainfall
Height 11 feet (broadly defined)
Height 9 feet
Biggest vertical drop 5 feet
Number of drops 1
Terrain: woods, little or no trail
route: From the summit of Mt. Sizer, follow one of the streams flowing south. Or it might be easier to follow the Middle Fork creekbed upstream from Poverty Flat.
Last visited 2011-04-16
id: coe.13
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