Amicalola Falls is close to where we went to the pumpkin patch, so Daddy asked if we could go there. He said he hadn’t seen the falls since he was a little boy. First, we went into the park visitor center to buy drinks and to look at some of the reptiles they had on exhibit. Then, we decided to hike to the falls. The first trail we went on was the Base of the Falls trail. It took us past the reflecting pool and we got our first glimpse of the waterfall in the distance. I zoomed in with my camera to get this shot.

We continued up the somewhat steep asphalt path to one overlook, then up 175 (I think I remember the number correctly) stairs to the Base of the Falls Overlook where I took some more pictures.

After we looked at the falls for a while and caught our breath, my daddy wanted to go all the way to the top so we could look over the falls from up there. I’ve never been to the top before, so I was all for it. The sign said there were over 400 steps to the top, so we headed up the West Ridge Staircase.

There were a lot of stairs, but it wasn’t too hot outside and the stairs were actually a lot better than the asphalt surface we had been on, so we kept going. We finally made it to the top (both boys walked the whole way without complaining) and oh WOW! Was it ever worth it! The views were absolutely amazing. My camera couldn’t possibly capture how great it was up there.

Okay…so since I’d never been to the top of the falls before, I was quite shocked when we got there to see a parking lot….with cars! Who knew that you could actually just drive to the top and why didn’t they inform me? I feel like driving wouldn’t have made the experience as magnificent, though. When you exert that much energy getting to something…your prize…it makes arriving so much more joyful. It would have been too easy driving and the views wouldn’t have been nearly as great! So, we spent a little time at the top walking around and looking at all the fall foliage. Then, it was time to go back down all the stairs. Colin was still fine going down, but Eamon was scared because he could see through the metal grate stairs to the cliffs below. I tried not to actually look through them and focused on the steps ahead, but he couldn’t figure that out. He was slow, but he made it all the way back down on his own…well, with Mommy holding one hand and him holding onto the railing with the other.

When we were back on solid ground, we took the very easy, recycled tire surfaced West Ridge Falls trail around to Spring Trail which was washed-out clay and roots. Then, we took Mountain Laurel Trail and Creek Trail through the woods and along the creek, back to our van. The trees and leaves in the woods were just gorgeous. (I’ll share in another post.) The wooded trails weren’t as crowded as the other ones going to the falls, so it was a quiet, peaceful, and enjoyable walk. As a reward for their hard work hiking and climbing over 600 stairs and for their lack of grumbling and whining, we let the boys play on the playground before we left for home. Overall, we had an awesome day surrounded by nature and visiting with Grandpa.