Things to know before hiking Alamere Falls in California

Hello lovely people!

I have been wanting to share this amazing hiking experience for a while but haven't had the time to post. Hope everyone is having an amazing week and enjoy the photos of this gorgeous place located here in Northern California!

Alamere Falls is one of the bigger waterfalls that is closes to San Francisco, only about one and a half hour drive away from the San Francisco area!

Here is the iconic photo of the largest waterfall at Alamere Falls! There is a pretty steep walk/climb down, but definitely worth it!

A couple of things to know before the hike:
1. Beware of Poison Oak and wear long sleeves and pants.
2. Start at the Palomarin Trailhead. Eventually there is a very narrow pathway on your left hand side to go towards the falls that is easy to miss. (Sorry I forgot to take a photo of this!) I recommend asking people and downloading offline maps so you can track your location to make sure you don't miss it. (Because I definitely did and ended up hiking an extra 2 miles!)
3. Distance: ~8.4 miles out and back
4. Skill level: Intermediate
5. For a safer, less challenging route (but a longer distance), you can hike the coastal trail to Wildcat Camp, then head south along the beach to reach Alamere Falls.

And here is the walk/climb down! It was packed that day.

I have been wanting to do this hike for years and finally got the chance to see this beautiful waterfall, and I definitely would do this hike again. It is definitely one of the most beautiful waterfalls I've seen so close to home.

Not only that, but look at these string of mini waterfalls on the way! Such an apt metaphor for life. People say, set small milestones that lead you towards your ultimate goal to keep you motivated. Every small milestone accomplished is a beautiful reminder that your goal is absolutely attainable if you put your mind to it!

Then of course, there were hidden waterfalls! Sometimes it seems like life sees all the hard work we put into achieving our goals and rewards us with something beautiful and unexpected along the way.

Just when you think you've seen them all, surprise!

Of course there are way more surprises on the way to the falls. This one in particular is not the most pleasant! We walked through walls of poison oak!

Remember to wear long sleeves and long pants if you decide to come hike here. If you do happen to brush up against a lot of poison oak, make sure to rinse in cold water immediately after getting home!

Just a quick tip on identifying poison oak, "when it comes to identifying poison ivy and oak, a quick rule of thumb is: Leaves of three, beware of me." Poison oak is a poison sumac (small tree or tall shrub) and causes an itchy rash usually noticeable 24 to 48 hours of exposure, but can take 1 to 6 days for symptoms to appear.

Look at the walls of poison oak! ...And other shrubs but beware!

Ironically, it felt serene and peaceful walking through walls of foliage all the while knowing the discomfort it may cause; comparable to so many things in life where we know it's bad for us but we do them anyway! Speaking of which, I would love some hot cheetos right now, yum!

Besides poison oak, the scenery was beautiful at the time. It rained all week the previous week and the mountains were blanketed with lush green and beautiful flowers. Not to mention, that was probably one of the reason why the waterfalls were so plentiful.

I just could not get enough of how beautifully green the hills were.

Oh, one last thing. I came across this furry little fella during the hike and saved it for last because it's so adorable! ...but also because a lot of people I've shown it to wasn't a fan and I didn't want to scare anyone away!

In conclusion, if you love waterfalls and are in the San Francisco area, I definitely recommend doing this hike. It is definitely one of my favorite hikes so far! But remember to bring long sleeves and long pants!

Until next time!