Nature Lovers Welcome at Ortega Falls

Key Points:

• What is Ortega Falls?

• Hobbies of visitors (Hiking, climbing, photography, etc.)

• Issues with Graffitti

• The future of the Falls

If you've ever taken Ortega Highway east to get to Lake Elsinore, you've driven right past one of Southern California's hidden gems. Ortega Falls is a collection of waterfalls found just a short hike down from the road.

After parking in one of the two dirt turnarounds (preferably the one on the falls side), you'll follow one of the many paths down; any of them will lead you to the falls. Though some trails are more overgrown than others, you have very little chance of getting lost as the rocky slope that holds the falls remains visible at all times during the short hike.

Ortega Falls as seen from the Trailhead; with the main waterfall circled

Immediately after leaving your car and heading towards the trail, you will begin to see the boulders that make up the landscape of the falls. The main fall (circled in red) sits near the top of the stack; though there are some smaller falls higher up.

When the water's flowing you can wade through it and enjoy cooling off under the steady stream of water. On days when it's dry, you can sit in the shade of a nearby Sycamore and take in the view.

As you explore, you'll see falcons and hawks circling the canyon along with the occasional lizard. Though there is a lot of foot-traffic, many animals still call Ortega Falls home and it's important to be a good guest.

Though the adage "leave no trace" is a great rule to follow, I suggest all visitors to bring a trash bag with them; you'd be amazed at how quickly it can fill up. In areas with a lot of plant life it's best to stay on the trails, though the more adventurous types will be happy to know that there are a lot of rocky areas to explore guilt free.

The spot is popular with Slackliners and Rock Climbers who love the natural layout of the area and turn it into their playground to the joy (and often horror) of onlookers. Along with them, photographers flock to the area to do both nature and portrait photography with photos can be found in the thousands on Instagram.

A couple of Rock Climbers enjoying the natural cracks and ledges found at Ortega Falls

While the boulders and the waterfall are what you'll first observe on your hike down, the next thing you'll undoubtedly notice is the amount of graffiti spray painted around the falls.

In some areas, every reachable surface has been covered in a mixture of art, profanity, slurs, and gang tags:

This area, covered by water during the wet season, has every rock surface decorated with spray paint

Among other hate symbols, Swastikas are often found here

Unfortunately hate speech and the use of slurs can be found here as well

Though many try to spread positivity, the act of spray painting pollutes the surrounding environment

A flower with Namaste in the center before and after being defaced. While not all graffiti here is offensive, it is very easy for people to deface someone's work with hate symbols

Though there are a lot of concerning words and images spray painted by the falls, not all of the Graffitti is in bad taste. There are many who create art, provide words of encouragement, and add peace symbols and hearts along the rocks.

That being said, kind words spray painted on the side of a natural area are just as damaging as words of hate when it comes to environmental impacts.

Though graffiti has sadly become a staple of the area, I found hope for the future in the form of the nature lovers I met during my hike out.

From children with their parents to somewhat older folks in their 70's, everyone was enjoying being out at Ortega Falls. I saw teenagers helping older hikers find their way back to a trail and children hurrying excitedly back to their parents with handfuls of trash to be thrown away.

While the falls have a long way to go before they'd be considered "wild" again, I have a good feeling that the future will hold less damage for one of Southern California's hidden gems.