Beautiful shaded hike to a small waterfall, all along a creek that flows with water after seasonal rains.

Location: Mount Tamalpais Watershed — Mount Tamalpais State Park

» Official Trail Map: Good color map showing various trails.

» Official Trail Map: Good B&W map showing various trails.

» Tom Harrison Map: Great map showing not only Mount Tamalpais Watershed but many other parks in its vicinity. One may form long loops by combining trails from multiple parks.

Trailhead: Rock Springs Picnic Area (intersection of Ridgecrest Blvd and Pantoll Rd.

Route: Follow Cataract Trail all the way to parking lot on Bolinas-Fairfax Rd. Return by the same route.

Notes: You may also start the hike at the parking lot on Bolinas Fairfax Rd. For details, check out EveryTrail Guide — Yelp reviews for Cataract Falls.

Location: Intersection of Ridgecrest Blvd & Pan Toll Road, Stinson Beach, CA . Parking area is visible in Google Maps if you zoom in sufficiently.

Directions: From US-101 North, take exit 445B to merge onto CA-1 North toward Mill Valley / Stinson Beach. Follow signs for CA-1 North for 3.6 miles. Turn slight right onto Panoramic Highway and drive for 5.3 miles. Turn right onto Pan Toll Road and drive for 1.4 miles to reach the intersection with Ridgecrest Blvd. Rock Springs is a large parking lot near the intersection.

Google Maps:

Parking Fees: None (last visited: February 2011)

Capacity: Over 20 cars may be parked here.

Latitude: 37.910549     Longitude: -122.612652