Pacifica's Secret Waterfall

Very cute little water fall. Emphasize on the little. It is a nice beach to picnic at, chill, read a book, etc.


Pro Tip:
Walk all the way to the left side of the beach & away from the hotels, during low tide you can find sea animals!

Please pack in and pack out. Protect our beaches

This morning was scatter showers in mid Nov. When the sun came out in the afternoon, we ventured out to this secret fall. Finding the trail head was not so easy but the coordinates are spot on. Across the street from corner of Westline Dr. and Skyline Dr, go a little south to find a section of rocks in cement, the trail head starts there going southwest to the face of the bluff where the first yellow rope lies. Then continue southward to find another yellow rope secured to a rebar within a car tire. (The old blue and orange line was broken) It was a little muddy and slippery today from the rain so the ropes were necessary to aid downward. Going up was much easier.

Since this place is not so easy to access, it is quite secluded. We had the whole beach to ourselves. It was fun work to climb down and enjoy this beach with a fresh water ravine.

I enjoyed the hike here, it is short and somewhat challenging to get to going down an incline. Follow the first review carefully. If you see a flag, YOU ARE IN THE WRONG AREA. You want to be in the left of the sign of the picture of the first review. If you see a rope going down the pathway, you are in the right area.

The waterfall was small but secluded so you wont see too many people or no people at all. What's nice is you get the beach to yourself and the view of the ocean is serene. It was relaxing. I recommend it if you want to explore the area and check out hikes.

Pretty cool waterfall. As of October 10th 2018, there is water coming out. Of course this is the city sewer pipe water but not bad at all.

This is a hidden treasure. An adventure. My kids 10 and 6.5 could manage the climb down. Park by the mussel
Rock sign and walk up to the trailhead corner of skyline drive and Westline drive. The rope will help you climb down.
Waterfall is beautiful. Kids climbed up and sat right next to it. The views are spectacular in every direction. Not crowded as it is hard to get down to the beach

January 2020
This is our kids favorite hiking destination. There were two ropes to help get down the steep incline. In one location the rope is cut to a small size essentially rendering it useless.

This place has an amazing view. Thanks to a previous Yelper, I was able to find this spot! The only thing missing was the waterfall :(. Bad timing maybe? Bring a set of gloves for the rope that you'll be holding onto while going down the hill side. I managed to find this place last minute & was like "Why not?!" . I wanted to go ALL the way down to the beach but the rope doesn't go down that far. I don't trust my balance so I didn't attempt climbing down without support. Overall, it's worth going. People paraglide in the area so that's pretty awesome alone.

The hike down and up is fun, and the beach is quiet and pretty. There is no waterfall though, as it's a drainage pipe spewing water into a pile of concrete blocks.

The waterfall is great for an off-road, mini-adventure. Definitely follow the first review's directions, because it can be very tricky to find the first path. There are about three levels that you'll have to use ropes to scale down hillsides, so make sure you're wearing clothes you're not afraid to get a little dirty and don't bring anything you can't carry easily. It's fairly deserted, but you may encounter one or two people on your way up or down. There are really pretty views of the ocean and hillside. Once you descend all the way to the beach level, you can wander out into a little pocket of beach to play in the water or you can head to the left towards the waterfall. You'll have to climb over rocks, some of which are wobbly so watch your footing, and you'll find some really cool debris. It looks as though a small train car may have fallen down the cliff over the waterfall a long time ago, and you'll see some random parts scattered about. Definitely climb all the way up to be right next to the water if you get a chance. The waterfall itself is a little small, but I visited on a dry day, so during a rainier period, I'm sure the effect will be much more dramatic. Still, it was really lovely and hidden. I felt like I was on a secret adventure. :D

Parking is pretty easy as foot traffic is low. My biggest suggestions are to dress appropriately (sneakers/shoes with grip), bring water and any other necessities (as it's a bit of a pain to trek all the way back to your car), and be careful (as footing is unstable in some areas of the hills and the rocks).

This "hike" probably won't take you more than twenty to thirty minutes, so don't expect much of a workout. Still, there are really lovely views and it's calm and quiet, so it's a good place to stop and relax for a moment.

Have fun! :)

I recently came across this location when I saw a picture of it on flickr. I never knew that there was a waterfall on the border of Daly City/Pacifica so I had to check it out. To get a better idea of where this waterfall is located, input the following coordinates into google earth - (37.661694, -122.492516). If you're driving here, then park your car in the residential area behind the cliff. Then look for the no parking sign on the cliff side that's directly in front of Westline Dr & Skyline Dr. There should be a trail leading down to the beach a little to the left of that no parking sign. There are several trails that LOOK like they easily lead down to the beach, but don't be fooled. Those trails are actually really hard to follow. I tried to go down three different trails before finally finding the correct one. The trail you want to take will have a long rope tied to a stake. You'll need to use that rope to get down and back up the cliff. Once you find this trail then head all the way down to the beach. The waterfall will be to your left (when you're facing the ocean). What's cool about the waterfall is that it's fresh water and it flows directly into the ocean. Another thing that I found interesting was that there were little frogs just chillin in the little streams that the waterfall forms. I'll have pictures up soon, which will hopefully give a better visual for the directions. In the meantime, here's an article on "Pacifica's secret waterfall" that you may be interested in - http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/25/SPJ11CKHJH.DTL.