Five Finger Falls is a 12-foot waterfall on Aptos Creek in Santa Cruz County, California, in the Coast Range region. It lies about 0.9 miles north of Day Valley and roughly 10.7 miles northeast of Santa Cruz as the crow flies.
At 12 feet it is on the modest side for California, where the typical waterfall with a recorded height stands around 70 feet; it ranks 280th of 286.
The Coast Range is a belt of steep, deeply dissected hills along the Pacific, wrapped in dense temperate rainforest of Douglas fir, western hemlock, Sitka spruce and red alder. Heavy winter rain feeds short, fast creeks lined with ferns, salmonberry and moss that drop steeply toward the ocean or the Columbia.
Santa Cruz County holds 8 recorded waterfalls, and several are close by. Maple Falls, 40 feet high, is about 1.8 miles away. Basin Falls, 20 feet high, is about 3.7 miles away. Upper Falls, 15 feet high, is about 3.9 miles away.
Five Finger Falls is located at 37.0493° N, 121.8613° W. The listing is based on the World Waterfall Database, one of the sources compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey in its inventory of waterfalls and rapids of the conterminous United States. The exact position has not yet been verified on aerial imagery, so treat the map pin as approximate. Details on trails, parking and access have not been documented for this waterfall yet.