Tip Toe Falls (also known informally as Tiptoe Falls), is a tall waterfall (though commonly mismeasured from ) on
Fall Creek in the
Portola Redwoods State Park
Portola Redwoods State Park is a state park in California situated in San Mateo County. The parks' primary watercourses — Peters Creek, Pescadero Creek and their associated tributaries — converge at Portola Redwoods State Park. Tip Toe Fa ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. There is also an upper falls, a few hundred feet upstream, which is much lesser known.
The falls, fed by Fall Creek (a
tributary
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...
of
Pescadero Creek
Pescadero Creek is a major stream in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties in California, United States. At ,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 15, 2011 it is the longes ...
) starts by cascading down a mossy, 8 foot (2.4m) upper tier into a small pool. The creek continues downstream between grassy banks, and before long, falls over the more well known, 6 foot (1.8 m) lower tier. The lower tier empties into a round pool approximately 6” deep, before the creek cascades over sticks and rocks and continues its way downstream.
Description
Tip Toe Falls is located in a redwood forest, on a short and steep tributary of Pescadero Creek. Its two tiers tumble over 8 and 6 feet (2.4 and 1.8 m) into shallow pools. The upper tier cascades out of dense undergrowth and forest, down a mossy cliff wall into a small and shallow pool. Near the bottom, the upper falls splits into two around a fallen log. Between the upper falls and the main falls, the creek winds through a small, fern-bounded meadow at the bottom of a steep ravine with mossy rock walls that rise over 50 feet (15m) above the canyon floor. The creek then drops over the main falls, which pours out of a small gully that resembles a
hanging valley
A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ove ...
, while a small trickle of water splits off towards the right bank and drops along with the main cascade into a round, rock-bound clear pool. The creek exits the pool in a small congregation of rocks.
Access
Tip Toe Falls is accessed by the ''Iverson Trail'', which begins at the park visitor center. Iverson Trail begins on the north side of the Nature Center. The Sequoia Nature Trail begins on the south side of the Nature Center and eventually meets the Iverson Trail. The trail eventually comes to the mouth of Fall Creek, and a narrow side trail winds upstream. The side trail soon comes to the end of the canyon, where two rock walls slope down in a “V” shape and form the low cliff that Tip Toe Falls pours over.
To access the upper falls, one must scramble up the right side of Tip Toe Falls. (The left side is more wet and mossy, and is thus more dangerous to climb.) After walking upstream along the bed of Fall Creek, the upper falls is found on the left of the canyon, obscured by several fallen trees. If trying to get there, one must be careful as mosquitos are commonly found there, especially around the month of April.
References
External links
Virtual Reality Panorama of Tip Toe Falls
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Waterfalls of California
Landforms of San Mateo County, California
State parks of California
Cascade waterfalls