Aztec Falls

Well, I’ve seen some mixed reviews in this place and I think that there may have been alternative paths to where the falls are, but here is my experience. The first thing you need to know is that your car needs to be able to handle some off-​road driving. I had my crappy little 2004 Camry and it was not ready for the dirt roads and short but steep rocky entrance and exit. I thought I wouldn’t make it (scraped the bottom a few times). Second, the hike itself is fairly easy. One mile to where you start your descent. The descent is difficult because it’s rocky, steep, and slippery. For people, it is fine. For dogs, it is a different story. I took my 2 year old American bulldog who is 95 lbs. She did fairly well going down. The problem came when we crossed the stream to the other side (above the falls, the other rocks are how you get down to the shore) that had some rock climbing. We had to carry her some of the way which was definitely tiring. I wouldn’t suggest bringing a large dog here unless you’re willing to carry them or help them onto rocks at some point. The area is beautiful, but littered which is a real shame. At the falls itself, you’ll typically find a decent amount of people there jumping off the rocks. For me, I worried too much seeing how small the area between the rocks underneath was. It is a really great place to just relax and have some fun. Just remember to pick up your trash and try to keep the trails and the falls as pristine as nature intended.

Gorgeous! This whole area is really lovely, and I don’t have other nearby hikes to compare it to, but this one is lovely!

Pretty busy place. When looking for the parking lot you have to keep going… And when you think you’re there keep going some more. It’s not the house to the right off the dirt road — keep going. Finally you get to official signage and the posting that says you need an adventure pass and you’ll know you’re finally there.
The hike to the falls is easy and it’s pretty crowded. Another group played music the entire time we were there but what can you do? We moved on past the falls and found some pretty awesome ponds to swim in which is what we will return for. Bring lunch — great places to picnic. Our dog did pretty good but still figuring out slipper rocks which could have been dangerous for and older or heavier dog.

So I jumped off a cliff here! It was pretty gnarly and I would probably do it again. We went to a secluded area first. I jumped off, go proed that sumbitch and then lost the Go Pro. My homies dived in repeatedly while I cried like a little b*tch and we eventually found the Go Pro! Good times!
We then later hiked to the more crowded spot and my homie jumped off a 50 foot cliff. He lived to tell about it! There were people there who took like an hour when it came to jumping off that cliff. I was like «Man you know this b*tch, b*tch jump or don’t»…nah I didn’t actually say that.
You want to know how to get to the trail? I would tell you if I remembered. Three cheers for good times.
Now to go look for a natural water slide. On the next adventures of Rob…

I loved it!!!
To get there I put my GPS to: 30 422 – 30 498 Hook Creek Rd, Cedar Glen, CA 92 321
From there your gonna stay on your left lane onto Squint Ranch Road. Then to a right-​hand descent that leads .45 miles to Splinter’s Cabin and access to the Pacific Crest Trail. You keep going it’s going to be a dirt road at the end of hook creek
It’s kind of confusing but just keep going straight until hook creek ends and on the left there is a narrow dirt road. follow it until you hit a sign in the middle of two pathways. Take the left witch leads you to the parking lots. Go in splinters trail head and parking will be there.
I also used this flikr account someone posted to find my way they did visual cues to help you know if your going the right way:
I don’t recommend low cars A lot of random big rocks and potholes.
Now the trail: you pass the bathrooms and one picnic area shed.
Keep going. Your going to cross the river.
IMPORTANT: go towards the bridge but don’t but don’t go across it (that means don’t go on the bridge to get to Aztec falls). Your going to pass this brown pole by the bridge
Keep going until you hit some rocks that go down. It looks steep and scary but it’s not hard at all. I still don’t recommend being little ones that can’t support themselves.
Then your at the top of the Aztec Falls!!!
Have fun and Pick up your trash please!

Our video review:
The heat was still lingering past summer so we found a Aztec Falls a great place to take short hike and big dip. The trail is easy with surprising beauty. Multiple trails to hike, cliff jumps and many picnic/​camping spots. We didn’t explore too much cause we mainly came for the cliff diving and shoot a bunch of silly shorts.
Parking: Adventure Pass
Hikers: Nick, Han, Matt, Mike, Tim and John
Distance: 3 miles round trip to the Falls
Estimated round trip time: 2 hours
Our difficulty rating: PG

THE GOOD:
Just came back from an amazing weekend at Lake Arrowhead. This place is so beautiful, I don’t really want to tell you how to get there to preserve its beauty but, I will. Follow Hook Creek Road until it it becomes a narrow one way road. Continue on the dirt path until you start to see parked cars. You can park in that area or continue driving forward on the left path of the sign. You need a daily permit (no, I don’t know where you get it) to park in the closest parking area, except on Sundays’ I believe.
Once you are parked the hike is fairly easy if you’re a continual hiker. It is a rocky path (reminds me of Eaton Canyon) I would not recommend taking young children-​but if you are-​expect to carry them. We only went to the first fall because we were so hot and wanted to get in. The water is COLD but sooooo refreshing! I was told the second fall was about ten minutes from where we were. We brought backpacks with beverages, sandwiches, chips, and other snacks. Once we started diving it was great. We took videos on the Go Pro and lived life! LOL
THE BAD:
Jumping here is kinda scary because of the rocks at the bottom, there are certain areas where its is about 15ft deep and areas that are really shallow. I was also told that the second fall was a lot deeper and had no rocks at the bottom. If you plan on jumping I recommend bringing water shoes or regular shoes it will make the climb A LOT easier.
Another Unilocaler mentioned that people were breaking into cars. Our cars weren’t broken into we had three cars and went on a Sat. and Sun. BUT, I did see shattered glass in the farthest parking area. People, PLEASE PICK UP YOUR TRASH!!! DO NOT TAKE GLASS BOTTLES to this place. If you have enough courage to bring your beverages and snacks have the decency to take them back with you. Bring a plastic bag designated just for trash and help preserve nature. I saw a few people leave their trash behind so DISGUSTING and really upsetting that people don’t have manners. So I loudly and arrogantly made comments about it until they took their trash. ;)
We really had a great time! Next summer I’ll try the second site.

Came here on a Saturday with my squad. Its a small water fall, yet a cool place to come out to cliff dive, swim, drink, & chill with friends. Driving here is rough & its practically a one way road, so if you get caught with a car going the opposite direction, one of you will have to move to the side in order for one to drive by. Hiking towards the fall is good until you actually get there, because in order to go down to the water, there is a steep hike to go down, so just be careful. The water is really cold but since its hot in that area, it feels good to jump in. You can jump off of 3 different spots. The water is deep & you have to know exactly where to jump in because there are two rocks that you can hit if you dont jump right. I believe one of the jumps was from 50 ft; Its kinda scary to jump that high especially when you’re not a good swimmer/​floater, but since you only live once, my best friend & I jumped anyway & made it out alive with help of out other friends. My squad & I had fun coming here, definitely worth experiencing it. Luckily our car & other cars did not get broken into that day.

DON’T COME RIGHT NOW, SUMMER 2015. YOUR CAR MAY BE BROKEN INTO.
I have never been so, so disappointed with a hiking location as much as this one. I truly believe that every spot has its perks and downs, but Aztec Falls was a terrible experience.
Aztec Falls was my group of friends’ getaway spot for this weekend. My friends have talked about the beauty of this place for so long. \
We arrived on a Sunday around 12:30PM. The drive to Aztec Falls from Lake Arrowhead will be bumpy and requires a four wheel drive to reach to the beginning of the trail. You can park further away (15 – 20 minute walk) from the beginning of the trail to walk.
The thing is, as of right now, I DO NOT recommend Aztec Falls. Unfortunately, my friend’s car (parked further from the beginning of the trail) got broken into and we had items stolen. Two or three other cars in the same lot had their windows smashed also. This is an ongoing problem at Aztec Falls right now.
Continuing towards the review of Aztec Falls, the reason why I give it a 1 star review is because the pure filth of this place. When my friend had visited a couple of months ago, he told me that the water was extremely clean and blue. It was not the case today. It was TRASHED with beer bottles and there were some spots on the ground that had broken glass. I could smell the trash when I was arriving to the water. Graffiti is beginning to appear on the rock walls of Aztec Falls.
Aztec Falls is a great spot for cliff jumping in Big Bear, but with the incident that is currently happening along with the filth of this place, I will not be visiting this place any time soon.
I will visit Aztec Falls again to help clean up this place and hope that others will aspire to do the same. Keep nature clean for all to enjoy it. If you drink, then clean up after yourself. Leave nothing but footprints and take nothing but unattended trash and photos. Please have good morals and ethics so that a once-​gorgeous spot does not have to be ruined by stupidity.

PLEASE BEWARE! 20 cars were broken into today, windows shattered, everything stolen. Police said same thing happened 2 weeks ago. Trust me when I say it’s just not worth losing everything to your name. Extremely saddened to walk away forever from a place I have been going to for 10+years.

If your looking for an easy hike with a great view you found it.
I just went here with my boyfriend for the first time and I must say we weren’t really prepared for what we found. The hike itself is easy you can go two different routes
1) The trail to your left when you first come down the path that leads to the side of the mountain you have to follow it all the way, then when you come to a rock that has the letters A. F spay painted on it you have to make your way down and you’ll end up right at the top of the cliff everyone jumps off into the water next to the waterfall.
2) You can take the more challenging route instead of turning left you keep going straight and follow the river all the way past the bridge and climb over a few rocks then you’ll come to a little secluded area with water and its own waterfall but you keep going ! All the way until you hear all the party animals at the end!
The waterfall itself is beautiful, tons of young adults come here to party. When we showed up everyone was in bathing suits, drinking beer, and blasting music. I thought I just found heaven (lol) .
But what makes this place unique is not just the atmosphere but the entirety of it there is a mural painted on the rock here of a Naïve American with a headdress on with the word «peace» next to it as the story goes «Hippies» used to come to this spot in the 60’s and named it Aztec Falls so I’m sure we’re just the new generation coming here to relax and appreciate the beauty of nature.
This is one of my NEW favorite hikes I’ll definitely be back ! But next time I’m bringing more friends, more beer, and a bathing suit!

We were looking for a place to hike after the short Heart Rock trail in Crestline on a Sunday. Once we got to Lake Arrowhead, we stopped at the 7-​eleven and the helpful cashier gave us directions. We drove into the wilderness area, but then didn’t know where the heck to park. We saw a little cabin-​looking-​thing with a lot of cars so we parked there and walked until we came to a fork in the road with a sign that wasn’t really helpful. We saw some dirt bikes coming out of one road and going into the other. Then, thank goodness a super helpful Prius approached us and told us the falls were to the LEFT of the fork. We were going to walk but the concerned child in the backseat told us it was far. We walked back to our car and took the left road at the fork and passed another lot where we parked. There is another lot if you continue all the way down, but it might be full and then you would have to drive back. We were initially worried that our Toyota Rav4 wouldn’t make it, but were reassured after the Prius made it! There are 2 ways you can get to the falls. Once you start the trail, you will come across a bridge. If you continue to go straight, you will stay high above the creek and will have to make a wicked descent to the falls at the end. What we did is cross the creek and hike down to the bottom and followed it all the way. There is a bit of rock scrambling, but you can’t get lost as long as you follow the creek. We passed a smaller falls area where young men were already jumping. If you go this route, you have to use a log to pass through the water (like walking on a plank!). We continued on until we came to the second falls area and knew it was it by all the laughter and yelling. Definitely fun to watch all the adolescents jumping off. Someone had brought a radio and it was a very laid back environment. At first I felt out of place hiking with my mom and family because it seems like a hangout for high schoolers, complete with bongs and weed in the air, but I saw people of all ages. Even a dog. Beautiful hike and the water felt great! On our way back, we saw a group of young men carrying a huge cooler no doubt filled with alcoholic beverages. Definitely the party place on the weekends in summer.

This is a bit tricky to get to, but just follow the signs and the people going towards the falls. You will have to go down a very, very steep hill. So make sure you are prepared for that. If you have kids, make sure that you are cautious, as the dirt path has a lot of lose dirt. The vibe is very peaceful, and the water is very clean. I will definitely be back soon. My new favorite nature spot.

It was very hard to get to, we also didn’t know how far the waterfall was from the parking until we found it on our own. I also wish people took their trash with them, it was very dissapointing to see budlight cans when youre trying to go for a dip. Aside from that it was a beautiful gem that not a lot people know about.

Best hike to do on a hot day. You can swim and jump into some pretty deep water. Its a small waterfall. It usually stays pretty clean help keep it that way! Or else they’ll shut it down like they did to sapphire falls.
Bring stuff you wouldn’t mind getting wet. Or put your cell in a waterproof bag.

Great place. I advise to take the trail. We accidentally took the long way along the creek to get to the waterfall. So many rocks and climbing.

Fun and short hike to the falls where you can go cliff jumping. Don’t forget to put your hands to your sides before you hit the water to prevent injuries. There are also other nice trails to explore.
Learn from me and make sure to to bring a car that can do some off roading!

It’s a wonderful fun environment that is a great place to take the family dogs and even barbecue haha you might have a little trouble bringing the Bar BQ though.

The place is compelling. It is not the best swimming hole I’ve been to by a longshot though…
Sure looks like this place gets a lot of use. I was here alone in November and saw tremendous amount of leftover trash, including broken bottles. Much graffiti on the way over.
There wasn’t enough water for the tall jumps. Incidentally, the tallest rock is 57 feet tall based on the Daytrips with a splash book.
Approaching from higher up stream is easier but involves some boulder hopping.
Your privacy this late in the season is practically guaranteed if you prefer swimming a naturel :)