North Canyon Falls
North Canyon Falls
El Dorado County, California
Description
Click to view photo(s)
Location
This looks to be a decent waterfall that I spotted while climbing back up to my car after visiting Iowa Canyon Falls. Unfortunately, I didn't have a telephoto lens at this time and was only able to take a wide shot of it. I'm not sure if there are any trails to get near this waterfall, but I may come back one day and see. According to topo maps, this waterfall could be as large as 200' with the final drop around 100' tall. To the best of my knowledge no one else online describes this waterfall (UPDATE: I recently noticed that Leon Turnbull of waterfallswest.com has added this waterfall to his site, but it looks like he couldn't get any closer than I got).
North Canyon Falls: 38.77191 N, 120.70976 W
USGS Topo: Slate Mountain
Directions
From Placerville (intersection w/CA-49), take CA-50 east ~1.3 miles before taking exit #48 (Schnell School Rd) and turning left onto Schnell School Road. After a further ~0.2 miles turn right onto Carson Road and follow it for ~2.9 miles before turning left onto North Canyon Road. Follow this for ~2.3 miles before turning left onto Slab Creek Reservoir Road. Follow this road for ~1.4 miles to the gate and parking area off the western side of the road. From the parking area go the gated road to the southwest. From here is where I spotted this waterfall to the west. Although I haven't tried it, it may be possible to get a closer view of the waterfall by following the southern side of the South Fork American River to North Canyon Creek. However, this would involve crossing Iowa Canyon Creek. A better bet may be to cross the river on the footbridge just below the dam and follow the north side of the river downstream to the waterfall on the opposite side of the river. There is a trail for a short distance on the north of the footbridge, but there is no indication of a trail further west.