- Miles: No Hiking Required
- Best Season: Mid-Late Spring
- Max Elevation: 4750 ft
- Parking Lot: Turnout fits ≈ 10 cars
- Dogs: Allowed On A Leash
- Restrooms: Not Available
- Pics Taken On: Aug 21, 2023
Want to explore an enormous waterfall on your drive up to Big Bear? Check out Frustration Creek Falls, a 400+ foot multi-tier cascade which literally cuts through Highway 38.
Visiting Frustration Creek Falls does not require any hiking whatsoever. In fact, it can be seen from the turn out on the opposite side of the road. This beast of a waterfall rarely flows, and is one of the four waterfalls in the area measuring over 400 feet. It is highly recommended to visit a day or two immediately after a decent rainfall in order to catch it flowing.
Did you know the largest waterfall in SoCal is literally five minutes down the road in the town of Forest Falls? It’s called Big Falls, and it measures a whopping 500 feet! Click the link to check it out!
Directions
Click the link to be redirected to Frustration Creek Falls via Google Maps.
Helpful Links
SoCal Adventure Pass (required for parking in CA mountains)
Frustration Creek Falls
The waterfall is located on the right side of the road (assuming you’re driving up the mountain). You’ll notice a pool of very muddy water in the turnout along with rockslide barriers.
I know it’s difficult to see, but the image below shows the bottom three tiers of the falls. This is the most you’ll be able to see in person. The rest of the tiers require a drone.
Here’s a closeup of the bottom two tiers. The lowest tier is pretty big, reaching about 60 feet high.
Here’s a shot of the bottom three tiers.
Here is another closeup, but this time of the 2nd and 3rd tier.
Moving higher up the falls you can see the 4th, 5th, and 6th tiers in the image below.
My favorite tier was the 6th, as it looked like a giant 80 foot rockslide! Believe it or not, this is not where the waterfall ends.
There are more tiers further up the creek, but my drone was out of range. That’s how enormous these roadside falls are.
Did you know there’s another enormous waterfall a little further down the mountain? It’s just as big but it has a lot more water! Check it out, it’s called Monkeyface Falls.
