Los Peñasquitos Canyon Falls
Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve, San Diego · near San Diego · San Diego
Hiking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- easy
- Route type
- out-and-back
- Distance
- 6.8 miles
- Elevation gain
- 300 ft
- Time needed
- day
- Best season
- November–May (falls best after rain)
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- No
- How the permit works
- No permit or fee. A shaded canyon walk to a small waterfall right in the middle of urban San Diego — an easy, popular family and trail-running route.
- How hard the permit is to get
- 1 of 5
What is here
- Features
- Waterfall in the city · Shaded riparian canyon · Oak & sycamore woodland · Wildlife & birding
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Allowed
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Hiking detail
- Intl tip
- Go after winter or spring rains for the best waterfall flow — by late summer it can slow to a trickle. You can start from the east (Sorrento) or west trailhead; the falls sit roughly in the middle. It's mostly flat and shaded, making it one of the better warm-weather options in San Diego, and dog-friendly on leash.
The guide
Los Peñasquitos Canyon is a remarkable green ribbon of wildness running right through the heart of urban San Diego — a shaded r…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Los Peñasquitos Canyon Falls — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 32.913, -117.19