It costs $8 to park all day and there is no entry fee to the park. We went to the visitor's center and talked with one of the Rangers about the best trails to take going up and coming back down. (That is one of Mr. W's favorite things to do.) We got our map and were off.
The Gorge Trail is a mile straight up and a mile of steps. The steps were mostly wet and had lots of leaves, but were mostly level and in most places, had room for you to step aside and let others pass if you needed a break. Watkins Glenn SP is known for being the home of 19 waterfalls. Believe me, this place did not disappoint. You walked through a tunnel at the start and when you came out the other side, you were already seeing waterfalls.
There were lots of different languages being spoken around us. There were a lot of photos being taken. So, you had to work your way to the photo area, get your shot and get out. But, it was so beautiful. Even though I love to take pictures and feel like I do a fairly good job, photos cannot truly capture the beauty of what nature produces.
OK, I'm going to get on a rant for a minute. When you are doing photos, get your photo and move on. Mr. W had read a lot of reviews of this park and the biggest gripe and reason people rated it down was because of the people taking pictures and not being considerate of others. I cannot tell you how many times I had to stand and wait while a Millenial had to take a selfie alone, then take one with 4 other friends, who were not standing anywhere near them. They then had to take a picture on their camera. Then, I'm sure no trip would be complete (she said sarcastically) without a panoramic shot and then a video. Oh, and let's keep standing right there while I post it all on Instagram, Snap Chat, and Twitter! Geez! My time is just as important as yours. Not to mention foreign visitors who push to get ahead others to get photos and have to take 20 of the same shot. People - be ready to take your picture, take 1 or 2, if you are including others, have them ready to jump into the photo, and move out of the way. Ok, rant over.
We walked down on the Indian Trail and it was not crowded and it was very peaceful. It was just a wooded trail with a couple of camera lookouts. But, after being in the crowds on the Gorge Trail, it was nice to leisurely walk this trail.
We had lunch and decided to try to see a couple more waterfalls in the area. I mean really, can you ever see too many waterfalls? The last one we went to is the tallest waterfall east of the Rockies. It was pretty awesome. I didn't get very good pics of it because we got there in the afternoon and all of the pictures were right in the sun. We wanted to walk to the bottom of it just to say we did, but we ran out of time. It was a 1/2 mile walk on a easy, level walking path according to their literature. I never know whether to trust that or not!
We are leaving today and headed over to Niagara Falls. This is the reason the whole trip was planned. We are meeting up with more friends and we will be there for 1 week and then headed back home. I can't wait!
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