Fall Creek Falls State Park is, by far, my favorite state park we've ever visited. Maybe it was the colors of the leaves and the time of year... but it was phenomenal. It is sort of like a tiny national park with it's lookouts and drivable loops. Why had I not heard of it's awesome-ness before? I've seen photos of the waterfall but in all honesty, that was my least favorite part of the park.
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Now I'm not gonna lie, our time at Fall Creek Falls State Park was cold. The days were lovely, but the nights were almost unbearable for us tent campers. If you go to the park this time of year (beginning of November) you'd probably be more comfortable in a cabin or camper than a tent. And trust me, this is the time of year you want to be there. Now let's talk about some things you should do while you are there!
1.
Drive around at sunrise. The first thing you should do is wake up early. If you are camping in a tent, you may be like us and be freezing so much that you have to move to your car in the wee hours of the morning and by default you'll be awake before the sun rises! But if that is not the case for you, set your alarm. You won't want to miss the gorgeous views and the stunning sunlight shining through the fog. There's a scenic loop you can drive and there are plenty of places to pull look over. But even just driving the roads in the park (it's pretty big) we found the most gorgeous views, like this road above.
2.
Stop at Millikan's Overlook. In the early morning you'll probably only see a person or two out. Fall colored leaves, sunrise, and fog- it's all there for you in the first part of the day. This is probably the coolest view in the park. It makes you feel very small.
3.
Look out for wildlife. We saw plenty of deer (and raccoons) while staying at the park, and I know that seeing deer is very common, but it's still exciting every time I do.
4.
Hike one of the many trails. The amount of trails here are endless. You mostly just have to figure out what length of hike you'd like to do and go from there. We only hiked the Woodland Trail from Fall Creek Falls to the nature center. This hike is short, but you get to see a lot! Unfortunately the nature center was closed for remodeling when we were there so the trail stopped there. Normally you can add on another trail from if you wanted a longer hike.
**It was not anywhere near Christmas time when we were on this trip, but Whitt only has one sweater and it was stinkin' cold, so he had to wear it.
This is the view over Cane Creek.
5.
Walk the suspension bridge over Cane creek. We came across this on our hike from Fall Creek Falls itself, but you can also park really close to the bridge and hike down to it in about 5 minutes. The bridge is right by the nature center, so just find your way to that and you'll find the bridge!
This bridge is really swingy/bouncy. Which our dogs HATED. And honestly, if I hadn't
been on one of these just a week before, I would've also not loved it. I guess you could say I got my "bridge legs"
while we were in the Blue Ridge Mountains. But walking across was still a little unsettling. Especially since this water ends in a waterfall right near the bridge. But the view is breathtaking, so it's okay.
6.
Check out Fall Creek Falls. I'm assuming this is the whole reason you want to go to the park! And while it is pretty cool, it surprisingly wasn't my favorite part of the park. I still loved it though! We actually ended up being at the waterfall when the sun was rising and also when it was setting. In the morning we saw two people during our whole gallivant. In the late afternoon is was really crowded. Also, for the dog owners out there, the trails around here are full with other people and their dogs. It made for an interesting hike since we too had our dogs. Let's just say there was a lot of barking happening, pretty often. This was fine with us, but something to keep in mind if you or your dog isn't a fan of other dogs.
7.
Watch the sunset over Fall Creek Lake. This lake is small an not anything to write home about, except when the sun is setting. It was covered in fog in the morning so you couldn't even see what was going on. But go ahead and stop here in the evening.
If you've been to Fall Creek Falls State Park or are planning to go, we'd love to hear what you favorite parts were in the comments!
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