Distance: From 8½ miles RT.
Elevation gain = 1500 ft.
Directions to Trailhead: From Topanga Canyon Boulevard, turn east on Entrada Road, and proceed 200 yards to the Dead Horse parking lot on your left. There is a parking fee and there are restrooms.
The Hike: Starting from the far end of the parking lot, we take a shady narrow trail for about a mile into Trippet Ranch, crossing Trippet Creek on a bridge, and proceeding through the Trippet Ranch parking lot past the white brick building, eventually turning right and winding uphill through the woods. At the top of the hill we turn left on the fireroad and continue uphill until the basalt knoll on the right is passed then turn right and start down into Santa Ynez Canyon.
About half a mile down the trail start looking for a side trail on the left, about 500 yards down the trail are some caves in the cliff on the right. The trail forks farther downstream. Take the left fork and go upstream. Follow the trail upstream for about 3/4 miles. You will cross the stream several times and may even run out of trail (clear trail) on occasion. By staying close to the stream you will come to some waterfalls. That's this hike's objective. At this point there is a rope to climb a large rock to get to the base of the waterfall. After eating our lunch, we turn around, retracing our steps to the trailhead.
For those who want to add approximately 3 miles to our total hike they can turn to the left at the Trippet Ranch bridge and go onto the Musch Trail, which comes out on the fire road. Then they walk down the fireroad to the Santa Ynez Trailhead, which intersects the fireroad, and proceed with the rest of the hike described above.
POISON OAK may/can be plentiful by the side of the trail and along the streambed.
Additional Information: The name Topanga comes from the Shoshonean Indian dialect. These Indians and their ancestors occupied Topanga and adjacent canyons on and off for several thousand years, until the Spanish evicted them and forced them to settle at the San Fernando Mission.