Barker Valley

I give this hike a 10. it’s an easy hike down a wide, beautiful trail. Once you reach water stay left. Do not cross the stream at the junction. Left is right, and right is wrong. The water is exactly 3.2 miles from the trail head and the falls are approximately 1 mile further. My total hike was 8.5 miles. The falls were a little tricky to find, not knowing exactly where they were, so just stay left and HIGH on the trail. When it looks like the trail ends at a dry stream bed, cross and look up for the trail to continue. Don’t follow the stream or bother climbing over rocks until you get to the pools. It’s a gorgeous hike. Not many bugs. Not many people. Lots of oak trees with monkey grass or pastures to lay down by the water edge. Down by the falls the big rocks are smooth and comfortable. Nestled 1000 feet deep in a valley, surrounded by mountains the only thing one can hear is nature. it’s about as pastoral as I’ve ever seen and I hike these mountains 2 – 3 times a week.

This is a difficult trail to find, but totally worth it if you’re adventurous! The first time I went we couldn’t remember if we were supposed to go upstream or downstream to the waterfalls. We figured we were «down» enough, so they had to be upstream. WRONG! The falls are definitely DOWNstream, so when you first hit the water, start your trek to the falls. The hike down is absolutely gorgeous, with rolling green hills, tree canopies, and beautiful vegetation. When you drive here, you can either hit 79 from 8E and go windy roads through Julian, or you can take 15 to 79. Either way, you’re looking at about a 2 – 3 hour drive. Regardless of which way you’re coming on 79, expect to drive about an hour before hitting the turnoff mile marker. Then another hour on the single-​lane dirt road that can be extremely scary. Make sure you have traction and 4-​wheel drive. Your Prius isn’t gonna make it. Bring plenty of water and leave SD early. We left around 8:30am and just barely made it back to 79 before the sun set. You do NOT want to be driving on that dirt road in the dark! Overall, this was pretty awesome. Nothing too strenuous, but the river-​hopping was awesome!