After a rainy stormy night, we decided to go hiking. Yes, sounds insane, but it was so much fun. Granted it was pretty muddy for the first half of the hike, but it was so worth it.
Escondido Falls is a waterfall located in Malibu, CA, just off the Pacific Coast Highway. Parking is available only at a small parking lot right of PCH and costs $8. Do not drive into the neighborhood cause you will get towed if you attempt to park anywhere! (Official website)
That said, the parking lot is relatively small, so get there early and maybe try for the off season and not on a weekend. We got lucky because it was so damp and cold when we got there around 11:30 am, but by the time we returned to the car, the lot was packed and 3 cars were waiting for spots.
That said, the parking lot is relatively small, so get there early and maybe try for the off season and not on a weekend. We got lucky because it was so damp and cold when we got there around 11:30 am, but by the time we returned to the car, the lot was packed and 3 cars were waiting for spots.
The first part leads through a ritzy neighborhood and signs tell you to “stay on the trail,” which basically just means, stay off the road and walk in the dirt along the side (otherwise a Mercedes or Range Rover might honk at you violently).
At the end of the main paved road, we came to a sign that says “private road” even though the entrance is a few feet further down, so you have to basically ignore it. Eventually we got to the official entrance of the park and trail to the falls. It’s a bit downhill and it was muddy as hell! Our boots got so heavy every few feet that we had to shake off and scape off the layers of mud stuck to them. At the bottom of the hill, the mud started to clear and the hike become pretty easy without a lot of elevation changes.
It was an amazing peaceful hike with absolutely gorgeous flowers along the way. On top of that we saw some of the most bizarre growing trees we have seen on our hikes.
The waterfall at the end was beautiful and very refreshing. Don’t try to climb to the upper falls as they are located on private property and the hills and environment around the falls are very unstable.
By the time we hiked back, the mud had significantly dried up and the hike back up the hill was much easier without five pounds of mud on each boot. The hike took us about 2.5 hours total and was about 4 miles total roundtrip.
We ended our day with lunch at Malibu Seafood just a short distance south on PCH, because no day in Malibu is complete without a stop there! Best fresh seafood – https://malibuseafood.com/
