Switzer Falls Hike in Angeles National Forest - Attractions
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TravelTranscript
00:00Hey guys, Josh from CaliforniaThroughMyLens.com. Today we're exploring
00:03Switzer Falls. Located above Pasadena on Highway 2 in the front range of the San
00:16Gabriel Mountains, Switzer Falls is one of my favorite hikes in the entire area.
00:20I definitely recommend getting there early as this is a really popular hike
00:25and be sure to display your adventure pass when you park. We made it to the
00:28parking lot for Switzer Falls. There's only five or six cars in the parking
00:32lot today. It's a Wednesday morning. Also I apologize in advance, I don't have a
00:35microphone so hopefully the audio is good. Heading out on the four mile trail.
00:39The hike actually ends up being around 4.5 miles round-trip plus an extra mile
00:45or so if you decide to go to Upper Falls.
00:51The first half of this hike is nice and shaded and it walks along the creek but
00:55definitely bring bug spray. There's a lot of bugs. This hike has about 700 feet
00:59of elevation gain but it's a reverse hike so you're going down the entire way
01:03there and up the entire way back. There are also a few water crossings to
01:08navigate but it was easy to hop across on the rocks. This is a really peaceful
01:12and serene hike. Lots of nice shade, babbling brook, it's green. Definitely if
01:17you come here not on the weekends when there's not a lot of people, that's the
01:20best way to see it. Note that this area has a lot of human history as well and
01:24you'll be walking on and off of a paved road from the 1930s.
01:28Switzer Falls, that way. This is where the trail leaves the shaded area and does
01:35the only uphill that you'll have on the way to the falls. We've reached the
01:40uphill portion of this hike. There's some beautiful views and we're coming over
01:42this hill and then we're gonna head down to the waterfall.
01:47We've made it to a junction and we are heading left. This is the last section of
02:00the hike. We're heading down into the canyon. Note that there's no shade and
02:04that it's gonna be about 500 feet of elevation going back up. So we just came
02:12down that trail and now we're actually going back up the canyon to get to the
02:17waterfall. Once you make it to the bottom of the canyon it's only about a quarter
02:21mile to get to the first waterfall. We made it to Lower Switzer Falls. Switzer
02:30Falls is a great 25-foot waterfall and depending on the water level is a nice
02:35place for a swim. We're gonna try to get to upper. I think to get to upper you
02:43have to go this way so we're gonna check it out see how crazy it is. If you choose
02:48to go to the upper level of the falls be very careful. While the area is not too
02:52sketchy it's definitely not something everyone would want to do and if you
02:55don't feel comfortable doing it please don't do it. Once you make it to the top
03:00of Lower Switzer Falls there's no trail and you're basically just following the
03:04creek back for about a quarter of a mile. There's definitely not much of a
03:09trail back here so be prepared to get a little wet and do a little bushwhacking
03:14looking out for poison oak. When you reach the end of the canyon you'll be at
03:19Upper Switzer Falls which is about a 45 to 50 foot waterfall. It didn't have a
03:24pool for swimming but it was definitely cool to see when we were there.
03:34We're heading down to Lower Switzer Falls and we may go swimming.
03:39If you guys do this be very careful don't do it if it's wet. It's definitely
03:44sketchy so it's not worth risking yourself to get to that waterfall.
03:49After making it back to the first falls the only thing left to do was to go
03:53swimming.
03:56That's cold!
03:59Thanks for hiking to Switzer Falls with us. We'll see you on the next video.