Mossbrae Falls in Northern California isn't accessible to the public

A man stands on a boulder looking at curtains of water cascading down a cliff over lush moss.

May 3, 2025 6:30 AM PT

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Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Saturday, May 3. Here’s what you need to know to start your day:

California’s most beautiful waterfall isn’t even open to the public.
A monster earthquake could sink a swath of California, dramatically heightening flood risk, a study says.
32 of the best weekend brunch spots in L.A.
And here’s today’s e-newspaper

Mossbrae Falls is breathtaking, but inaccessible

Less than half a mile from the city limits of Dunsmuir, Calif., a little railroad town in far Northern California, there is a waterfall so beautiful that people say it takes their breath away.

Mossbrae Falls, which is fed from glaciers on Mount Shasta’s majestic slopes, tumbles across mossy cliffs in great curtains of water, and then down into the Sacramento River.

A century ago, the waterfall was a glorious tourist attraction. Southern Pacific Railroad ran special trains to it, where people could get out and take in the view and drink from the springs.

Dunsmuir officials, who are hoping to boost their town’s economy, would like the waterfall to be an attraction again. But there is a problem: Though it is a short distance from a city park to the falls, there is no easy, or legal, way for the public to get there.

Every attempt to get access to the falls has floundered.

The land on one side of the river is owned by the Saint Germain Foundation, a religious group that considers the falls and Mount Shasta sacred and doesn’t want the public wandering through.

The land on the other side of the river is owned by the Union Pacific Railroad. The tracks that run adjacent to the river are a major north-south artery for freight.

The city has been unable — so far — to get access from either party. Instead, according to a city study, tens of thousands of people each year risk their own safety by trespassing for more than a mile along oily train tracks. At least two people have been struck by trains near the falls since 2012. Others have reported terrifying near misses.

Now, city officials are trying to work with Union Pacific officials to build a trail that would cross the Sacramento River at Hedge Creek Falls and continue north to Mossbrae.

City Councilman Matthew Bryan, who has made access to the falls a key part of his agenda, said he believes the city and Union Pacific may finally be able to make it happen.

A small trail will cost more money than the small city of Dunsmuir has sitting around.

Dustin Rief, the city manager, said the costs of engineering alone may be as much as $2 million, even before construction starts. To raise money for the effort, the city last summer posted a sign at Hedge Creek Falls seeking public donations. The sign features a tantalizing photograph of the officially inaccessible Mossbrae Falls along with a QR code that allows people to donate using their phones. So far, $4,700 has come in, mostly in small increments, Rief said.

Poetic justice

If the railroad ultimately allows the city to build a trail — and that trail indeed brings in more tourist dollars — many locals say it would be poetic justice. After all, it is because of the railroad that this city exists at all. And it is also because of railroads that this city, decades after it was founded in the 1880s, almost died.

For years, many people who lived there were employed by the railroad, Bryan said, but then automation and other changes in the railroad industry meant the number of jobs shrank. And in 1991, there was a catastrophic train derailment north of town that spilled nearly 20,000 gallons of a highly toxic herbicide into the Sacramento River.

“This trail to Mossbrae is part of us reclaiming our community and our economy and our connection to the best water on Earth,” said Bryan, the city council member.

The week’s biggest stories

A beach campfire provides warmth at sunset on the Samoa Peninsula in Eureka

A monster earthquake could sink a swath of California, dramatically heightening flood risk

During an earthquake scenario with the highest level of subsidence, or land sink, the area at risk of flooding would expand by 116 square miles.
Among the areas at risk after a megaquake along the Cascadia subduction zone are the Humboldt Bay region, including the area around Eureka and Arcata.

Soaring burglaries in post-fire Altadena rattle residents

Jenna and Howard Morris’ home has been burglarized three times: first on the night they evacuated, then at the start of April and then again the following week.
“When we found out that our home survived, we had no idea that three months later we would be dealing with this,” Jenna said.

L.A. County approves $4-billion sex abuse settlement, the largest in U.S. history

The vote is the culmination of years of fighting by victims, who argued that no one had paid the price for the rampant sexual abuse they said they suffered in county custody.
The settlement includes nearly 7,000 claims, most of which involve alleged abuse from the 1980s through the 2000s.

LAFD union head made $540,000 in a year, with huge overtime payouts

LAFD union leaders have padded their own paychecks with overtime, even as they complained that the LAFD did not have enough money to keep the city safe.

More big stories

Bay Area tech workers thought their jobs were safe. Then the ‘golden handcuffs’ came off.
An O.C. man guilty in the murder of his ex-girlfriend was captured on her best friend’s voicemail.
Trump signs orders ramping up an immigration showdown with sanctuary cities and states.
Jeff Sperbeck dies after falling out of golf cart reportedly driven by John Elway in Southern California.
California’s high-speed rail leaders sound alarm over project’s financial future.
Here’s why Santa Cruz just added a soda tax, in defiance of a statewide ban.
A Pasadena resident tests positive for whooping cough after visiting a children’s museum.

Get unlimited access to the Los Angeles Times. Subscribe here.

This week’s must reads

Angela Halili, left, and Arielle Reitsma at Balboa Theatre on their For God So Loved the World tour.

(Armond Feffer / For The Times)

Evangelism and Erewhon: They came to L.A. for the Hollywood dream, then shot to Bible stardom. As devout Christians spend less time in the pews and more time on social media, Christian influencers such as Angela Halili and Arielle Reitsma — with no formal training in ministry — have become unlikely religious authorities to a fan base larger than that of many of the nation’s most popular preachers.

More great reads

Leave it to Beyoncé to make history the star of the Cowboy Carter tour.
A rare glimpse inside the mountain tunnel that carries water to Southern California.
In ‘Hacks,’ Deborah finally achieves her dream. But like reality, late-night is in trouble.

How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to [email protected].

For your weekend

Guests enjoy each others company as they sit at the bar

Going out

🍷🥘10 Black-owned restaurants to visit before ‘Cowboy Carter’ and ‘Grand National’ tours at SoFi Stadium.
☕Fan Girl Cafe carries on the musical legacy of its West Hollywood location with coffee and good vibes.
🧇32 of the best weekend brunch spots in L.A.
🌯Pasadena may be the best place in L.A. for breakfast burritos, argues food columnist Jenn Harris.

Staying in

👗How to watch the 2025 Met Gala and everything else you need to know.
📺‘Miss Austen’ — a four-part miniseries premiering Sunday on PBS — imagines the motives behind Jane Austen’s sister burning her letters.
🌶️🍋 Here’s a recipe for chile lemon margarita.
✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.