Pacheco Falls
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| | Raps:3, max ↨50ft
Red Tape:No permit required Shuttle:None Vehicle:Passenger | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Condition Reports: | 25 Apr 2026
"Another wonderful backcountry weekend at Pacheco Falls. Light rain and weather in the 50s made full wetsuits good to have for most of our group. All |
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| Best season: | BEST in Spring
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37.1421, -121.4078
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Waterflow
Introduction
Pacheco Falls is a very short and easy set of drops which juts out impressively from otherwise calm rolling hills. In low flows it has potholes which make for nice swimming, and the flow can be significant shortly after rains.
Pacheco Falls may hold the record for the worst approach-to-descent time ratio in California! Except during Henry Coe Backcountry Weekend, the approach is long enough to make this an overnight expedition for most groups.
Approach
Choose your own adventure to reach the falls based on your parking location. If approach from the SW, drop in 1/4 mi upstream from the falls to avoid the steep walls of the cliff. If approaching from the NE the slope is steadier, so you can drop in only 100' or so before the falls.
The KML added above shows the approach from Kaiser-Aetna road, which is accessbile during Backcountry Weekend.
Descent
Obstacle 1: take a ~4' jump into a small pool, then downclimb ~15' to the first rappel
Obstacle 2: ~50' rappel anchored 2 bolts from DCR, traversing 2 pools
Obstacle 3: ~50' rappel anchored high DCR
Obstacle 4: ~50' sloping rappel anchored from one bolt DCR
Obstacle 5: ~10' downclimb to a 10' jump into the final pool. Jump out to avoid the shallow shelf near the wall that is visible if you lean far enough out
All other obstacles can be downclimbed in normal flow, though in high flows a rappel or handline could be necessary.
Exit
The hillside DCL immediately after the last drop can be hiked back to the canyon entrance, making it easy to run multiple laps in the same day. The trail DCR could take you back as well, at the cost of a higher elevation change.