![]() Indeed, as you can see in the photos on this page, the fields were decorated in multiple hues. Looking back at the context of the Phantom Falls Trail flanked on each side by large mats of wildflowersĪs for the timing of the wildflowers bloom, it seemed like our early April 2021 visit was either at or just past the peak. So based on that observation, perhaps early- to mid-March was ideal for a visit to see the falls flow well, but again, this window can shift depending on the Winter rainfall accumulations. When we visited in early April 2021, most of California was having a drought year so the Gold Run stream was well past the peak and was in danger of trickling or going dry in another month of no rain.Īs you can see in the first photo on this page, the smaller companion waterfall was definitely trickling during that visit. If I had to make a guess, I’d argue that Phantom Falls would flow best in the Winter and early Spring periods, but this is completely dependent on how much precipitation has fallen in California’s Wet Season (typically Winter and early Spring). Note the people on the bluff to the topright providing a sense of scale Visit during the peak superbloom of the wildflowersįocused look at Phantom Falls still hanging onto its flow in Spring 2021.In my mind, there are three considerations for timing a visit, and they are to: Timing A Visit To Phantom Fallsīefore getting into the trail description, I wanted to discuss the timing of making a visit since this waterfall has a limited season. However, for the purposes of this write-up, I’ll just focus on the Phantom Falls experience, and point out the departure points for the other waterfalls that I’ve managed to visit (which have their own separate write-ups). In any case, it was the waterfalls that drew us to this area, and it turns out that there are quite a handful of them here, which can be combined in longer, extended hikes. Wildflowers almost superblooming in the open pastures along the Phantom Falls Trail (and 2021 was a drought year) were what really made the Phantom Falls hike, in my mind ![]() These days, the North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve (through which the Phantom Falls Trail passed) consisted of wide open pastures grazed by cattle from neighboring farms.Īnd it’s this open field of grasslands that resulted in conditions ripe for Spring wildflowers, which we were fortunate to witness during our early April 2021 visit. ![]() That was a time when settlers first came to California in waves in an attempt to strike it rich (and causing problems with Native Americans), which ultimately forever changed the state to what it is today. The falls ran on the seasonal Gold Run stream, which was probably so-named from this area’s Gold Rush heyday in the middle of the 19th century. While the waterfall itself was something we found worth targeting for a visit ever since we first learned about it, I thought it was the wildflower blooms that made this excursion even if the waterflow wasn’t great. Phantom Falls was an impressive plunging 164ft waterfall flanked by giant basalt columns as well as a thinner companion waterfall.
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