Santa Ana Mountain Trips - Falcon falls/Hells Hole

This was from a trip up Ortega highway to some swim holes in the Santa Ana mountains, with an overnight stay at the Bluejay campground. We started our trip at the Falcon trailhead and took the cutoff down upper Hot Springs canyon to Falcon falls. The waterflow there is only seasonal and the trail is not maintained at all so this beautiful little swim hole rarely gets visited. We spent the day jumping off the cliffs into the pool and then eventually made the hike back up to the Bluejay campground where we spent the night. The next day we decided to check out another swim hole that we had never been to before named Hells Hole that was supposed to be just off the Ortega highway near the bridge. We found it no problem, it was literally only a few hundred feet or so from the highway. With the cars driving by and all the graffiti on the rocks and the bridge it was nowhere near as nice as what we had enjoyed the day before at Falcon falls, but the water still looked real nice so we had to jump in a few times before taking off.

Bluejay Meadow

Upper Hot Springs Canyon

Upper Hot Springs Canyon

Upper Hot Springs Canyon

Falcon Falls

Me at Falcon Falls

Cliff Jumping

Cliff Jumping

BlueJay Campground

Sunset through the trees from the BlueJay Campground

Clear sunset from the hill behind our camp

Camping

The Bridge on Ortega Highway

Hells Hole

Jumping into Hells Hole

Ortega Bridge from Hells Hole

Youtube Video -

www.californiamountainadventure.com