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7.5 Arroyo San Jose Falls
| First Fall (37 ft.)
Second Fall (23 ft.)
Third Fall (35 ft.)
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Fourth Fall (55 ft.)
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Location: Novato, Ignacio Valley Open Space Preserve, Marin County
Height: 55 ft.
Access:  
Distance: 1.6 miles (RT)
Elevation: 200 ft. (+400 ft.)
Season: Dec-May
Difficulty: 
Lat/Long:38.06212, -122.5919
Directions:From Novato on Hwy 101, take the Ignacio Blvd. exit. Drive west for 0.8 miles to Fairway Dr. Turn left and drive 1.7 miles to the end of the road. Park along the street.
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Arroyo San Jose is a beautiful and unknown creek in the heart of Novato. It contains four separate waterfalls, all in the range of about 25 to 60 feet high. Obviously, like most waterfalls in the Bay area, it is best to visit right after heavy rains, but Arroyo San Jose seems to have a larger drainage than many other creeks in the area.
The trail begins at the end of Fairview Drive and starts out as a paved road. At the end of the pavement, go left on the dirt path, which leads shortly to a creek crossing. At high flows you will certainly be getting wet here. The trail continues on the other side, following the creek up the canyon, and shortly before the first waterfall you will cross the creek again.
The first falls is very easy to reach, but to get to numbers 2, 3, and 4 requires a lot of work. You need to cross the creek at the first waterfall and follow the path leading up above the falls. The trail is steep, narrow, slippery, and has dangerous drop-offs. Be extremely careful. The second waterfall (23 ft.) is fairly easy to reach. The third waterfall (35 ft.) is perhaps the nicest, but is the most difficult and dangerous to get down to. You can see it from the path as you climb above it, and there is a steep trail leading down to it. I do not recommend it. It is very dangerous and slippery and there is not much to hold onto. The trail continues on to the fourth waterfall, a very large cascade. I measured it at 55 ft. high, but there is an additional upper section that cannot be seen very well. All four of these waterfalls are very beautiful and definitely worth visiting in the winter months.
Zoom out on map to see all nearby waterfalls:
Other waterfalls nearby:
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