Falls Creek Waterfall

I've lived here over 30 years and I just discovered this little waterfall up in Rockingham County, about 20 feet from the Virginia border. My exploring buddy, Dakota, and I made the trek down the trail and were rewarded with these views of Falls Creek waterfall, discovered of all days on Columbus Day. It's off the beaten path and though it is part of the NC Mayo State Park, there is no signage leading you to it. I found it on the internet site for the park and got an address which I plugged into Google. Though darting back and forth between state lines, you eventually end in NC just under the border on a dead end gravel road. It is in a deep forest where the road ends and there is a paved parking lot where you pick up the trail to the falls.

 Mostly downhill to the falls, it is a short hike through the deep woods. I kept listening and sure enough you could hear the falling water and the closer you got, the louder it became. It is not a raging torrent but a gentle roar that greets your ears as the rambling creek meets the enormous granite stones and drops for 25 feet into the pool below. No one else was there when we arrived and the solitude and peace overwhelmed me. God's architecture of sight and sound always wins out over my personal anxieties, shortcomings and failures. There is no medication better to relieve your stressess than being in the midst of God's handiwork.

 After a bit, a couple of other folks showed up, and we explored a little below the falls. Finding nothing of interest we decided to head back and look for flora, fauna, and critters. We found none of the above but we found some interesting fungi along the trail. And oh yeah, it is uphill all the way back, not bad. but up none-the-less. There was no fall color yet, but I suspect I'll be going back in a couple of weeks just to see.

December 30, 2021