Cataract Falls, Marin Municipal Water District, California

One of my favorite memories from living in San Francisco was hiking the Cataract Trail either during or right after a storm. Cataract Falls can be quite spectacular during those conditions. On my recent trip to San Francisco, it rained the day I was driving up north so I made sure that we visited Cataract Falls the following morning. I hadn’t been there in about eight years so I was in agony every time I saw rain for all these years since daydreaming about hiking the Cataract Trail again.

We got up well before sunrise to make the long drive up from the Peninsula in order to get a parking spot. Though frequented mainly by locals, there is only room up there for a few cars so I was not going to be denied. We drove through the dark, forested road which was compounded by thick fog and were the first to arrive, no surprise there. By the time we left several hours later, all of the available parking was taken.

I’ve been to Cataract Falls in better photographic conditions but it was still a great experience. Samantha remarked that the scenery resembled something you might find in Washington, more than the Bay Area. That is the beauty of Marin County. You don’t have to travel to Oregon or Washington to see this scenery.

See more of my San Francisco Bay Area photos.

7 Responses to “Cataract Falls”

1. Rachel Cohen
   January 13th, 2013 @ 2:39 pm

   Beautiful capture Richard! Lovely scene and perspective!!

2. Richard Wong
   January 13th, 2013 @ 3:11 pm

   Thanks Rachel.

3. Bernie Kasper
   January 15th, 2013 @ 10:57 am

   Great shot Richard !!

4. Richard Wong
   January 15th, 2013 @ 2:32 pm

   Thanks Bernie.

5. David Leland Hyde
   January 15th, 2013 @ 4:30 pm

   Now there’s a beautiful little waterfall of California. We don’t do so bad in the falls category.

6. Richard Wong
   January 15th, 2013 @ 5:09 pm

   Thanks David. The photo is actually a bit deceiving in that Cataract Falls is a long continuous cascading waterfall that runs nearly the entire length of the trail.

7. Napa Valley : In the Field: Photo Blog by Richard Wong
   January 20th, 2013 @ 6:02 am

   [...] and dining that the region is so famous for. Our day started off with the early morning hike to Cataract Falls in Marin County, then we proceeded to go to Oxbow Public Market in Napa for lunch. Neat location [...]

Leave a Reply