The hook
The Inland Empire's most-hiked waterfall pours off the San Gabriel foothills right above Rancho Cucamonga, close enough to the suburbs that the trailhead fills before breakfast.
01Why it's worth it
The North Etiwanda Preserve protects a wedge of sage scrub and oak at the base of the mountains, and the reward for climbing up through it is a multi-tiered waterfall dropping through a rocky notch, tallest and loudest in spring when the snowmelt is running. The loop is around three and a half miles, gentle enough for a family, with the valley opening up behind you the whole way and, on clear days, a view that reaches the coast. It's the closest real waterfall hike for a couple million people, which is both its charm and its problem: everybody goes. Come in spring for water and wildflowers, and know that by late summer the falls slow to a trickle.
02How to experience it
The preserve is off Etiwanda Avenue above the 210 in Rancho Cucamonga, about seven hours from the Bay. There's no entry fee, but parking is limited and now paid through an app, and the lot fills early on weekends with no overflow nearby, so come at sunrise or skip the weekend altogether. The preserve closes in extreme heat and after heavy storms. Stay on the trail; the slopes are fragile, and the steeper upper falls above the maintained path have injured people who scrambled toward them.