Leon Turnbull Photography

It pays to know people in high places. Isn’t that how the saying goes? Something like that anyway.

There are a lot of waterfalls in the Napa County area that are, unfortunately, on private land. Many of these beautiful waterfalls are no longer accessible to the public. There are some, though, that are on land owned by a group called Napa County Land Trust. This land is protected now from development and this group often leads hikes into these areas. But the general public is still not allowed to go there.

Linda Falls in Angwin is one such waterfall, which is actually a fairly recent acquisition by Napa County Land Trust. I’ve been trying to get permission to go to Linda Falls for a couple years now.

Well, as luck would have it, I just recently learned that one of my Flickr friends is a member of Napa County Land Trust, and he offered to take me to Linda Falls, as well as another waterfall in the Napa area. Cool! So George and I made arrangements to meet up in Angwin last weekend. It would be an all day affair. Another friend of his, Paul, drove up from Oakland to meet us for the excitement as well.

The walk in to Linda Falls is quite short and easy, though getting down to the bottom of the falls is a bit steep. Although George is 65, I was surprised how he was crawling around the cliffs like a slow mountain goat. He climbed up the steep cliffs on the far side of the creek to the top of the falls, while Paul and I watched from below, praying that he would not slip and fall. I really didn’t want to be carrying him back out.

Linda Falls is definitely a pretty little waterfall, which I measured to be 31 ft. high. It is surprising how steep the canyon walls are here where the waterfall drops into, considering how flat it is up at the road, just a short distance away. It is definitely a gorgeous area. We spent a long time here, photographing and exploring the area.