Barbara and I drove out to Santa Clarita for this waterfall hike, one of the few locally left unaffected by the fires. Whitney Park's 442 acres sit in the Rim of the Valley trail corridor, the network of parks and trails connecting the Santa Monica Mountains to all mountains surrounding the San Fernando, Simi, Conejo, and La Crescenta Valleys. Whitney Canyon makes up part of the critical corridor between the Santa Susana Mountains and the San Gabriel Mountains. This doesn't necessarily mean much to us today, but before the railroads came in the mid to late 1800s, the Native population, traders, and Western pioneers used corridors like Whitney Canyon to walk, ride horseback, or hire stagecoaches to take them out of the San Fernando Valley. Regionally significant as an entrance to Angeles National Forest, Whitney Canyon became known for its ranching and oil drilling. Barbara and I followed one trail—marked on our map as Whitney Canyon Road—to weave up and through the canyon. The higher we got, the more water came downhill from the waterfall ahead, so clear we could see the bottom. Depending on the rain situation, be prepared to stream hop. We scavenged for loose branches and used them for leverage in hopping slippery rocks to the other side. (Hard not to slip— fortunately my hiking boots tolerate splashes.) We hit the first waterfall, a small but loud and ambitious flip over the rocks at about our halfway mark. We had the option to continue to waterfalls #2 and #3, but the option involved hopping sideways across a wet boulder with only a makeshift rope device for stability. The slippery front of the boulder/canyon wall looked too dangerous for us to chance a sideways rappel (ask us during dry summer) and we were content to check off one pretty waterfall and  head back. The trail changes personality multiple times from bottom to top and back. Acres of coastal sage scrub, oak woodland, chaparral, and riparian corridor line the shore of a clear year round spring. Birds in chorus or arias break the silence. Everybody likes this popular hike: hikers, dog walkers and happy pups, big and little children, and equestrians. For us, Whitney Canyon was a clean and welcome escape away from the destruction in January. Loved this trail and park so much!