Cataract Falls Trail, High Marsh, Kent Trail, and Helen Market Trail is a 7.7 mile moderately trafficked loop trail located near Fairfax, California that features a waterfall and is rated as difficult. The trail offers a number of activity options and is accessible year-round. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.
dogs on leash
birding
hiking
nature trips
trail running
walking
forest
river
views
waterfall
scramble
See Marin County's most scenic waterfalls. Cataract Creek Trail offers a perfect excuse to play hooky from work or spend a vacation day in the woods. The creek's waterfalls provide a spectacular anchor for a 7-mile loop through the scenic lands of the Mount Tamalpais Watershed. The loop includes scenic vistas stretching to the Pacific Ocean, narrow single-track into the wooded hillsides into forests of young redwood and Douglas fir. Marin County has over 500 miles of trails; these are among the best.
Definitely difficult but absolutely beautiful and worth the effort. Completed the 7.5 miles with our dog on leash.
Trails maintained well. Great views and numerous waterfalls from the get-go. Trail stats says 7.7 miles but my Garmin Fenix 5x says we did 10 miles.
Come early if you want to find parking close to the trailhead as it gets crowded later in the day.
- Parking: very easy and plentiful, even arriving late on a sunny Saturday morning; park near the trail start
- Scenery: amazing, and quite varied! Cataract Trail is almost completely wooded and you'll see small waterfalls. Near the middle of the hike, you'll enter a beautiful expanse of green hills and flowers; it looked a little like the Wizard of Oz.
- Wildlife: we saw deer and a sleeping owl during the trail :) No birds.
- Bathrooms: there was 1 portable potty at the parking lot
- Shoes: the inclines were mostly stairs, so regular exercise shoes worked fine for me. The declines / inclines were not gravely / sandy.
A bit rough on the old joints but awesome hike.
One of the most scenic hikes in the area. The waterfalls are amazing. We took a detour to the top of the hill across the Ridgecrest road to find some breathtaking 360 views down to Stinson beach. It was a perfect spot for lunch. It adds about 1.5 miles to the hike but is absolutely worth it.
Tim R.
A multitude of views, such a beautiful loop! Waterfalls, forest, meadows, lake, marshes. l'd definitely do this one again!
All future hikes will be in tough competition with this gorgeous beauty. The first mile (stairs, steps, stairs, steps, etc) is tough but the scenery is breathtaking. Cataract Falls Trail was crowded with both hikers and people strewn about the waterfalls. You can't blame them, it's awesome and peaceful. It's easy to miss the High Marsh Trail when it veers off to the left. (If you hit the open meadow and road, turn back). This is where the loop gets really unique. From deep forest to Alpine meadow to streams and the lake. Other people have said it, fuel up at the lake, you'll want to for the next mile up! That climb at the end makes the return trip down Cataract even more heavenly.
Julie G.
First mile or so was a climb, but there were beautiful falls to view along the way up. We went in March and there was plenty of water falling.
Arrived around 8:00 am—saw only 1 other person during first couple of hours, but trail crowded going down around 11:00. Ascent along the creek invigorating. Gorgeous views of falls and pools. After split off Cataract, terrain interesting: grassy hillsides, dry forests, marshes, rocky deserts, streams, etc, etc. Moments of utter silence in the forest. Woodpeckers. Frogs. Mosquitoes. Mosses. Ferns. Lots of shade. A fun hike though my Achilles’ tendons are aching!
steps steps and more steps.
Absolutely beautiful! As the previous reviews say, the beginning of the hike is vigorous for roughly 1.5 miles but stunning! I took my dog and she did great, there are a fair amount of stairs so going down was a little harder on her but other than that very dog friendly! We arrived at 7:30am and we're the first hikers out there but by the time we were done 4 hours later the trail/parking area was swamped so head out early and enjoy this beautiful hike by beating the crowd!
Great hike, lots of climbing but its worth it. Finding a parking spot is little challenging on busy weekends but not bad!
Beautiful hike. Hard work at the beginning, but totally worth it.
I would rate this hike "hard". It's about four hours of hiking with a lot of climbing but it's worth the effort.
Loved the hike! The weather was perfect and was glad to have beat the crowd.
Great trail! Tough at the beginning, but the falls are worth it. The lake makes for a nice lunch break.
This trail was beyond fabulous! The first part is waterfall central, you basically ascend very quickly, following the waterfall up a steep incline. After about a mile or so, the trail starts to even out and you reach a fork in the road. One arrow points to Cataract Trail, the other to High Marsh Trail. If you want a nice spot to sit and eat lunch by the river, and if you want to use the bathroom before the rest of the long hike, go toward Cataract Trail. There is a porter potty at the trail head, also.
If you choose to snack at the picnic area, you can backtrack and follow High Marsh Trail at the fork, which takes you out of the forest and onto an open stretch where you can see a gorgeous view from the side of the mountain. And then it’s into the forest again!
We saw so many different types of fungi- they were so diverse! We also saw small orchids, and bulb plants about to bloom. I’d like to go back and see what types they turn out to be! After switching to Kent Trail, we descended and found ourselves overlooking Alpine Lake, and we met a yellow-bellied salamander close by. We crossed creeks and walked past a Marsh, as well.
All in all, the Trail was beautiful and (except for the initial waterfall part) quiet. There were times it seemed like I was the only person in the forest.
Great hike with many rewarding views!!
Incredibly busy up until the junction than peaceful and hardly a person after turning left to do the loop clock wise. Gorgeous views up top.
Loved this loop! it was the perfect combination of steep ups and downs but with enough leveling out that you didn't get annoyed with it!
Logistically paths are narrow and often you're walking along a cliffside so be sure to go with caution if youre planning on taking a pup with you. otherwise, this was strenuous but worth it given the amazing views and how deep into the forest you got.
Great challenge especially at the altitude! Took me a bit to get acclimated especially since you start climbing straightaway. Loved the different types of trails you encounter on this loop.
I could not ask more for a hike. It is not an easy hike. By the time you hit the high marsh you have climbed stairs for 2 miles... once you are down Kent trail be prepared for another mile long climb. Fitbit showed me 10 miles alltogether from the cataract trailhead. Beautiful all the time.
Great hike waterfalls bridges great scenery. Bring plenty of water and good hiking shoes
Mirian S.
Pretty good hike! Lake’s water level was low but hopefully after winter rain it’ll be higher along with the waterfall’s flow. We will be back! Also our iPhones/ fit bits logged 9-9.5 miles... and 192 flights climbed so bring enough water and snacks and comfy shoes
Cataract Falls had many people hiking on a Sunday afternoon, but once you get onto High Marsh there's no one to be found. Challenging at first and then evens out. Slightly uninteresting hike for the most part, but a good workout.
Up Cateract is a burner....High Marsh is pure heaven....Down Kent to the lake then Helen back to trailhead....save something for the last 1.5 miles, gets us every time....approx 4hrs
Such a great hike! Everything about this hike is just beautiful! A must do!
Very beautiful, definitely would say it's moderate/strenuous. I hike quite a bit, and coming back up this was definitely a bit challenging. Just to warn those with bad knees, or youngsters. Will definitely be back though!!!
Beautiful trail...great workout!!!