Yesterday morning I woke up and figured, hey, why not drag my lazy family outta the house? Round Falls popped into my head cause my neighbor wouldn’t shut up about it last week. Grabbed my coffee and barked at everyone: “Get dressed, we’re doing waterfalls today!” Kids groaned like zombies, but I tossed granola bars at ’em and herded ’em into the minivan by 9 AM.
The Drive Was Stupid Simple
Just plugged “Round Falls” into GPS – took less than an hour driving through those twisty backroads. Kids whined “Are we there yet?” exactly 27 times (yes, I counted), but then we spotted the wooden sign for the parking lot. Easiest dang directions ever. Parked right next to this dope picnic area with grills. Felt smug cause we totally scored the last parking spot.
Holy Crap The View
Followed the muddy trail down – maybe 10 minutes max – and BAM! The whole waterfall opens up like some postcard. Water’s crashing down this curved rock wall into bright turquoise pools. Kids instantly forgot their tablets existed and bolted toward the edge. My wife actually gasped and did that Instagram-hands thing. Even my grumpy teen muttered “Okay, this is kinda cool.”
We Went Full Goat Mode
- Rock hopping: Balanced across wet boulders like drunk mountain goats. Almost ate it twice but hey – adrenaline!
- Toe dipping: Stuck our feet in the shallows. Freezing cold but so refreshing.
- Photo battles: Kids took 500 blurry waterfall selfies while arguing about angles.
- Peanut butter feast: Ate sandy sandwiches at the viewpoint. Blue jays tried stealing our chips – little bandits.
Spent three hours just wandering the trails and throwing pebbles. Oldest kid found a creaky rope swing – swung over the creek yellin’ “YOLO!” like a maniac. Felt weirdly proud watching him almost faceplant.
Zero Fancy Gear Needed
Wore my busted old sneakers and lived. Didn’t bother with hiking poles or fancy backpacks – just water bottles and that ratty picnic blanket from the trunk. Packed leftover pizza for dinner cause nobody had energy to cook. Kids passed out in the car before we hit the highway. Best part? No entry fees anywhere. Totally free nature binge.
Back home now with wet shoes drying by the door. Knees ache like hell from climbing, but the kids keep begging to go back next weekend. Mission damn accomplished.
