Many of our hikes have offered a beautiful (and in one case, refreshing) bonus — waterfalls! 

Here are just a few of our favorites:

In Colorado (the first time around!), before we tackled the Great Sand Dunes, we took a quick detour to Zapata Falls. As the linked article states, the view from the parking lot alone is amazing. It was a quick, moderately challenging hike into the falls…and we’re so glad we made the trip! Waterfalls are awe-inspiring to begin with, but when you’re up close and personal inside a cave-like rock structure the experience is even more incredible. 

More recently, we did a fabulous hike in Dupont State Forest — just outside of Asheville NC. We had plenty of waterfall options to choose from, and went with the Three Waterfalls Hike. Note for the future: when one is experiencing waterfalls from the top and the bottom, one will be climbing up and down some steep-ish hills. After all that climbing and admiring, we treated ourselves to a cool dip at the final falls (then we treated ourselves to some of the best pizza we’ve ever had, from Black Mountain Pizza & Ale House https://blkmtnpizza.com/!)

When we arrived in Chattanooga, we saw vintage-looking billboards and signs for Ruby Falls everywhere. We were a bit worried that it might be a tourist trap (with a descriptor like “the tallest underground cave waterfall open to the public in the United States” how could it not be???), but we decided to give it a try. We are so glad we did! The trek through the cave is entertaining, but the falls at the end are stunning. The folks who run the site have created a fun light show to showcase the falls, the guides are helpful and knowledgeable, and the grounds are nicely landscaped.