The trail to Fish Canyon Falls has an interesting history. At one time, it was a popular trail with cottages alongside a stream. After a fire destroyed the cottages, the trail still remained its shady, relatively flat self, leading to probably the best local waterfall, an 80 foot high one with three tiers that looks more like something out of Yosemite (almost.) This sign above was installed along the way, but sadly it has disappeared.
I showed a picture of it Monday, but here is a closeup view during a good year. Today, if one were to go here, it would be bone dry.
Sadly, the trail to the falls became blocked off by a mining company. The only way to hike the trail was to trespass across their land.
People complained, so the company built a bypass route around their mining operation so the trail could be accessed. Unfortunately, this trail was badly built, and went all the way up a mountain, then all the way down a mountain, just to reach the start of a flat trail. A trip to the waterfall had gone from a leisurely 3 mile stroll to an arduous 10 mile trek, much of it quite dangerous due to poorly constructed switchbacks.
The latest compromise is that the company runs a shuttle through the mining operation about once a month so people can hike the trail without climbing up and down the mountain. The only problem, though, is thousands turn up, so it really isn't so great. Below is an actual picture from one of the hikes.
Ah, I'll take a pass on that hike. I think Disneyland is less crowded.
The upside, perhaps, is that with few people hiking the trail, it stays fairly pristine. So if one is willing to trespass or do a crazy mountain workout, one can hike the trail with virtually nobody else there, 95% of the year.
An interesting mini waterfall is visible along the trail to Fish Canyon Falls. It's called Darlin' Donna Falls. At one point, it had its own sign.
This sign was only up for about a year, after which it was found floating downstream, and hasn't been replaced. So to find Darlin' Donna, you now need to go a) when it's been raining and the stream is full and b) know where to look. Here is what it looks like:
