University Falls

This place WAS beautiful. Such a great place to go, and I feel lucky to have been here before it was closed down. Some friends and I came here just a few weeks before (unknowingly) it was closed. Beautiful hike and the falls are something that you have to see with your own eyes. Absolutely gorgeous and tons of fun to slide down. There weren’t too many people on the day that we went, but enough so that we had some company. The water wasn’t as dirty as expected. Very cold, but refreshing. Trash wasn’t that bad, although it still was there. It’s a shame that people didn’t take better care of this place. I bet that they regret it now.
The falls are great to slide down. I don’t know if the first three pose any sort of risk, but the last one definitely does. A tip I received from locals is that if you’re dumb enough to go down the last one, don’t look forward, just lean back and go with it. Most people have the tendency to look forward to see where they’re going, but it ends up getting you hurt. I never wanted to take the risk going down the last one, but some might.
I haven’t been back again, and I don’t plan on it. This place is closed and it’s too far of a drive to investigate whether or not you really can enter again. Some might be able to, who knows. I’m glad that I got this experience, but I’m fine with only experiencing it once. It’s a shame others in the future can’t, though.

So I guess illegal to visit the falls now. DO NOT VISIT or you will be TRESPASSING. I got this message this morning.
Cindy,
I manage the lands where the falls are, on behalf of the University of California. As I am sure you saw from the posted signs, there is no swimming or sliding allowed. Currently, there is a no trespassing policy surrounding the entire falls area. Your review, unfortunately, leads people to believe that it is legal for them to go to the falls. Because the no trespassing policy is now enforced, this at the least leads to disappointment when they get there and at the worst leads to a ticket if they choose to trespass. I am asking you to please remove your review, as it endorses illegal activity. Thanks!
Rob York, UC Center for Forestry.
BUT check out this link:

We came here on a very very packed and hot day. There were way too many people and we almost couldn’t find a space to put our things down. IMO, the hike itself wasn’t difficult but it also isn’t as scenic as I imagined it to be. It takes about 1.5−2 hours to hike to the falls, with a few steep climbs here and there. There was just WAY TOO MUCH DUST!!! Gahhhh… I felt the dust smothering my entire face as I was hiking which made me not want to talk as I didn’t want dust in my mouth. When we got there, I was excited to slide down the falls, but it’s honestly not that great. My feet were BURNING HAWWWWT on the walk up to the slide from where we left our things. I think I slid down like 1−2x and was already over the hype. It LOOKS scary when you’re about to go down, but it’s really not. Although make sure you at least know how to swim a little because the water is deep.
The difficult part isn’t finding parking because there’s a good amount on the side of the road, finding the actual beginning location of the hike is since there’s no specific sign. When you’re near just look out for a yellow gate on your left! All in all, I would recommend coming because it is pretty but perhaps I’m just more of a hiker who wants scenery along with a breathtaking view at top instead of an average waterfall (I’ve seen bigger ones in Yosemite).
TIP #1: BRING SANDALS OR SHOES YOU DON’T CARE ABOUT!
TIP #2: be careful walking on the rocks when at the falls, the algae makes it verrryyy slippery (I landed on my buttocks :(…so I can speak from painful experience)!

What a great hike! I have to admit I was nervous because the trail to the waterfalls was not clear. In the back of my mind I was thinking we (me and my suburban raised daughters) would get lost, with no cell signals and no one would be able to find us. Apparently I’ve watched too many movies. lol. Luckily we arrived at the same time as a group of kids/​young adults who knew where to go. They were nice enough to lead the way for us.
The waterfalls were nice. We were happy to just kick back and watch the brave young adults slide down the falls. They really had no fear.
The hike back up got our heart rates up a little, but it was great! There were some sketchy parts but overall I enjoyed it.
It was a bit of a drive for us coming from Fairfield (1.5 hrs away) so not sure I’d make the trip again. But glad we did it!