While it’s hard to describe the scrambling through the overgrowth, the key thing that I noticed was that the creek would eventually made a bend to the right (east). There was a faint use-trail leaving this unpaved road to the right, which eventually led to the Andrew Molera Falls This was where the unpaved road bent to the left away from the Andrew Molera Falls. Right at this bend, there was another use-trail leading into the dense overgrowth, and this provided a more straighter path to the Andrew Molera Falls though it, too, eventually disappeared into the jumble of fallen trees and overgrowth. That use-trail was higher up the unpaved road before it started to bend to the left away from the audible creek. While I managed to scramble from the first use-trail that I found shortly after the gate (which went over one fallen burnt redwood tree before continuing on then disappearing in overgrowth), I would recommend the second use-trail leaving the road. This was the fence blocking the unpaved road leaving Hwy 1, and it was the key landmark for at least getting started finding the Andrew Molera FallsĪs the unpaved road ascended behind the gate, I spotted a couple of faint use-trails leaving the road and descending into the dense growth. ![]() The key is to identify an unsigned gate at the bottom of an unpaved road leaving the Hwy 1. Finding Andrew Molera Fallsįirst and foremost, in order to find the Andrew Molera Falls, you have to find the correct starting point (see directions below).ĭespite being in Andrew Molera State Park’s boundaries, there is no signage for it. Therefore, the difficulty score reflects this even though it should have been a short excursion if you only considered the hiking distance alone. Looking back at the jumble of fallen trees and overgrowth that I had to slowly get through in order to reach the Andrew Molera Falls Who knows how much longer this waterfall may be reasonably accessible before Mother Nature reclaims it?īut whatever the case may be, as time goes on, the degree of difficulty and risk will continue to increase. Indeed, on my second visit, I had to endure scrambling over a lot of fallen burnt redwood trees (unable to stand from the destabilized soil resulting from the fires) that clearly obliterated whatever use-trails that were once here.Īnd as you can see in the photo above, the threat of more trees falling into this drainage remain as I spotted several more leaning trees (including a pair leaning right over the 35ft Andrew Molera Falls). Full context of the Andrew Molera Falls, where you can see that there are two leaning trees about to topple over in addition to the already fallen trees around the falls itself That was when it dawned on me that the recent history of floods and fires as the extremes of Climate Change had adversely impacted the state’s Central Coast region might have something to do with it. Regardless, I was puzzled at how the waterfall could be so difficult to reach in light of what was said in the book. However, that wasn’t my experience the first time around back in April 2019, and it was from that visit that I had a feeling the next time I’d make the attempt, I’d have to be willing to get dirty in order to find it. This waterfall presented a bit of a headscratcher for me because the description in Ann Marie Brown’s 4th edition of her California Waterfalls book suggested that it was a pretty straightforward 10-minute walk after finding the correct starting point. ![]() It actually took me two attempts before I finally found it, but it required quite a bit of persistent route-finding and overgrown scrambling in order to finally witness it. Andrew Molera Falls (also labeled as “Highbridge Falls” on Google Maps) was an elusively hidden waterfall within the boundaries of Andrew Molera State Park on the Big Sur Coast.
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