Kitchen Creek Falls - Pacific Crest Trail

52 hikes in 2025 - Hike #10

Would you believe that we accidentally hiked part of the Pacific Crest Trail without even realizing we were even near it?

We finished lunch at Jacumba Hot Springs and got back on I-8 towards San Diego. If you knew Kelly, you’d understand that she is never one to waste opportunities for side-adventures on a road trip. Earlier that morning we had been unsuccessful trying to get to the antique bus in the desert near Yuma, so she wanted me to look for something similar along our route on Google Maps.

I did not find any abandoned cars or buses.

But about 50 miles out from San Diego I did see this little green circle on the map

Me: “Hey Kelly, there’s this place ahead called ‘Kitchen Creek Falls’ do we want to stop?”

Her: “Falls? Yes! we should stop. How far away is it?”

Me: “About 2 minutes. You should probably get in the right lane, the exit is right around the corner”

About 5 minutes later we were at the trail head parking lot changing our shoes and putting fresh water in our CamelBaks and water bottles.

And off we went down the trail, which turned out to be not terribly long or terribly steep. Probably the only part where I wished I would have broken out the hiking poles was when we were making our descent to the falls themselves. I think in the end it was just over 5 miles round trip, and our stop lasted a total of around 2 1/2 hours. As for the falls, it wasn’t a particularly big waterfall, but at least there was water in it. We didn’t dip our toes in or anything, but we did have a nice rest down near the water to eat a snack and rest up for the hike back up the hill.

On the way back down, of course we had to stop to take in the scenery and grab a few pictures.

On the left, the running water at the falls. The center picture is an interesting and colorful rock formation. On the right is one of the trail signs. You can ride a horse, but not a bike.

Really nice depth and colors in this picture that Kelly captured

From the top of the trail we could see Interstate 8, Lake Moreno off in the distance, and even the trail head parking lot where we had left the car.

It wouldn’t be a waterfall hike if I didn’t accidentally step in the water and soak my socks and shoes. So for me, the hike back to the car was even more “fun”. Fortunately, I had a pair of flip-flops in the car that I was able to change into for the rest of the drive to San Diego.

This really was a very efficient use of our travel day. We somehow managed to get in three hikes in one day while also driving a little over 200 miles.

And our day wasn’t even done yet. We were treated to a pretty spectacular sunset on the beach in San Diego later that evening.

Look for another post or two about San Diego (and our whale watching day trip) in the next couple of days.

Til next time,

Todd