【Hike】Black Star Canyon Falls Trail in Silverado

Thursday, June 22, 2023

【Hike】Black Star Canyon Falls Trail in Silverado

On April 8th, my husband and I decided to go to Black Star Canyon Falls for hiking. I found this trail, Black Star Canyon Falls Trail, on AllTrails App, which is my favorite app for hiking. Because we had a lot of rain in Southern California this rainy season, waterfalls had a lot of water and were flowing beautifully. If you live in Southern California and love hikes, you should try Black Star Canyon Falls at least once in your lifetime. It was the most strenuous hike I've tried this year.

Tips for Walking on Black Star Canyon Falls Trail.
・Apply sunscreen on entire body.
・Wear sunglasses and hat with high UPF.
・Drink water often.
・You can bring your dog but it's very difficult to climb up rocks with a dog.
・It's a strenuous hike.

・Bring water shoes. (You need to walk in the river.)

・Wear long pants and watch out for poison oaks.

My Black Star Canyon Falls Trail Walking Summary (UA MapMyWalk App)

When I go hiking, I use Under Armour MapMyWalk App to track my walk.

My Black Star Canyon Falls Trail Walking Summary (UA MapMyWalk App)

Last year, I also started using AllTrails App. It's easy to use and helped me to not get lost. In addition, it's easy to find new hiking trails, and you can save your activities on AllTrails App. If you love hiking, you should try this app. It makes your hiking more enjoyable.

My Black Star Canyon Falls Trail Walking Summary (All Trails App)

Parking

There are a lot of free parking spaces along the street of Black Star Canyon Road. However, this trail is very popular, so if you would like to park near the trailhead, you should be here in the early morning. Otherwise, you probably have to park too far from there.

Black Star Canyon Road

We arrived here around 7 a.m. on Saturday. Many people had started walking already that day. We parked about 300 feet away from the trailhead.

Trailhead

Trail Hours

There is no sign for trail hour. This trail is open year-round, but the best time to visit the waterfall is after a rain.

Black Star Canyon Falls Trail

There was the mountain lion warning sign at the trailhead of Black Star Canyon. In Orange County, mountain lions can be found in many cities. Therefore you should know what to do if you encounter a mountain lion before you go hiking in the mountains in Orange County.

Black Star Canyon Falls Trail

Black Star Canyon Road

Trailhead

First, we started walking on Black Star Canyon Road.

It was a flat dirt road and very easy.

Sadly, you will see some graffiti during this hike.

There were graffiti on the bridge.

After walking on Black Star Canyon Road for 2 miles or so, you will see the sign of Black Star Canyon Falls. Then, go down to the right. We hiked the steep hill down to get to Black Star Creek.

Black Star Creek

When we got to the creek, we changed our shoes to water shoes because this trail requires to walk in the water a lot. The trail is muddy because many people walked with wet shoes, so you need to have good shoes with grip for this slippery dirt and rocky path. I don't recommend flip flops, sandals nor crocs for this trail.

Sometimes, it was difficult to see where the trail was. Basically, we needed to go up the river.

There was graffiti on the large rock. Indeed, I saw that some people had spray cans in their pocket and noticed something like spray paint smell.

We sometimes needed to walk on an extremely narrow path.

We also walked in the cold water.

We also needed to climb the rocks many times to get to the waterfalls. I was impressed at that some people were climbing rocks with their dogs being kept on leash. It must be very hard to do so.

Black Star Canyon Falls

Black Star Canyon Falls

We finally got to the waterfalls. It had a plenty of water and was flowing gracefully. It was so refreshing. We saw that a few people took the risk and tried to climb up to the tunnel.

We enjoyed having some snacks and water there while watching the waterfalls.

Then, we started going back to the trail, and it was physically demanding because my legs were already very tired after climbing a lot of rocks. The trail got muddier after many people walking on wet shoes. In my way back, the trail was more crowded. I saw many hikers, and it was sometimes a little difficult to pass other hikers around large rocks and in the river.

We finally went back to the parking lot. It was 7.5 miles and took us 4.5 hours to complete this hike. It was the hardest hike I've ever had in the U.S. My legs were sore from this hike for a few days.

It was our first time to see waterfalls in the U.S. We were glad to be able to see the beautiful waterfalls after having a lot of rain in Southern California. If you are planing on trying Black Star Canyon Falls trail, go here in winter or spring for waterfalls flowing and don't forget to bring good shoes with grip. I recommend water shoes for walking in the river.

If you like Orange County hikes, you can check out my previous entries related to hike I tried from the book, 50 Hikes in Orange County.

1. San Gabriel River to Turtle Overlook (Long Beach/Seal Beach)

2. Dana Point Headlands (Dana Point)

3. Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve (Huntington Beach)

4. Bayview Trail (Newport Beach)

5. Crystal Cove Tide Pools (Newport Beach)

6. Aliso Peak (Laguna Niguel)

7. Pecten Reef Loop (Aliso Viejo)

8. Bommer Canyon (Irvine)

9. Laurel Loop (Laguna Beach)

10. Mariposa Trail Loop (Laguna Beach)

11. Little Sycamore Canyon Loop (Laguna Beach)

12. San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary (Irvine)

13. Wood Canyon Trail (Aliso Viejo)

14. San Onofre State Beach (San Clemente / Oceanside)