Fossil Falls, an Unique Off The Beaten Path Place Along Highway 395 - California

There are a lot of spots to stop at on the iconic 395, but one of our favorites is Fossil Falls. The well-marked turnout will have you shimmying and shaking as you make your way down a two-mile washboard road. You will come to two forks and you want to stay right at both of them. After the second fork, the road will dead end at the Fossil Falls trailhead. The trailhead area is really nice. It features a restroom, a sign with a ton of information about the falls, and tons of parking. We've only seen one or two other cars there on our visits. The trail is only half a mile round trip with only a couple of tiny hills for elevation, but it is completely exposed so it could be very hot in the summertime. Once you begin the trail, be sure to sign into the guestbook that you can see in the red box here on the right, just to show how awesome you are. The trail is short, but you need to watch your step. There's a lot of rocks that are buried in the ground that stick up just enough to trip you up. I think Vy and I both tripped about two or three times. I love the vast nothingness of this hike. A couple of lonely cars driving down the 395 is the only signs of life for miles around. The trail doesn't really have any markers per se, but it is very easy to follow. I only believe that there was one fork and you just stick towards the left. This should point you towards a large triangular rock off in the distance that I call the Dorito. After you pass the Dorito rock, the trail comes to a small drop off and ends in a T. Make a right and work your way about 100 feet down the wash and here you will find yourself at Fossil Falls. It's kind of funny because the falls are actually below the surface, so as you're approaching them you don't actually see it and then all of a sudden you're on the edge of a cliff. What you're seeing here is rocks that were polished around 10 to 20,000 years ago as water rushed through the canyon from a nearby melting glacier. If you want to get a much more up close and personal look at the falls, you can circle around to the left side. This is the much easier entrance down to the bottom. If you are going to explore the falls, we highly recommend having shoes with good tread. These rocks were highly polished by the glaciers and they are super smooth. It would not be hard to slip and fall quite a ways down. I had never seen anything quite like these rocks before. Not only did they shine and glisten in the sunlight, but the best way that I could describe the texture of it is that it reminded me of a garage floor. V, being as tiny as she is, decided to embrace her inner cave dwelling, rock climbing desert creature and take the hardest way back up out of the falls. It sure looked fun, but I don't think I'm small enough to fit through those gaps. Fossil Falls is a perfect road trip stop. It's right off the highway, the hike is short, and you can see everything in just about an hour. If you're lucky and you keep your eyes peeled, you might even see a petroglyph. When you are done exploring, you can head right back to the wash. This trail is an out and back, so that means you're going to take the exact same route back to your car. If you are going to be getting back on the 395 north, we highly recommend stopping by our good friend Yael Hoffman's Olancha Sculpture Garden. It's only about 20 minutes up the road, and it is really cool. If you enjoy our adventures, be sure to subscribe and click the bell so you get notified when we make new videos. Check us out on Instagram at livethatadventurelife, and for all the information about this hike, check us out at thatadventurelife.com.