Our first stop was Burgess Falls. Brian and I have been here a few times before we had kids. There are two smaller falls along the river before you reach the big falls.
The entire trail is along the river and shady.
The trail is pretty short (only about 0.75 miles each way) and the boys did it quickly. We reached the lower falls and first viewed it from the overlook.
Then we made our way down the trail to the river above the falls. Unfortunately the staircase to the base of the falls is still closed after it was damaged about a year ago in a flood.
We hung out here for awhile. The boys had fun running around and throwing leaves in the water in hopes they'd go over the waterfall. Eventually we headed back to the trailhead. There was a ranger there with a bunch of animal pelts that the boys got to feel and guess which animal they belonged to, which was actually really fun.
Next we drove about 20 minutes north to Cummins Falls State Park. This is a relatively new state park and it was the first time any of us had been to it. The area at the base of the falls is a very popular swimming hole.
We didn't plan on swimming as it was already getting late and we didn't bring the right clothes or shoes. Plus the boys were tired from having played soccer in the morning and hiking at Burgess. So we hiked about 1/2 mile to the overlook.
We took a more primitive trail back to the car and had it to ourselves. It had been really crowded at both parks since it was Labor Day weekend.
Hopefully we'll get to squeeze in some more hikes this fall!
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