Hike the Cascades if you also love College Football

     

On our trip to see the opening Virginia Tech football game in Blacksburg, Virginia last weekend, we decided to hike the Cascade Falls trail, something I hadn't done in 30 years (since my freshman year in college). Cascade Falls is one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Virginia and possibly on the entire East Coast. It's a great way to escape real estate for a Labor Day weekend and recharge your batteries.

Little Stony Creek falls over a vertical cliff in several different streams. Several streams cascade a couple times on the way down while others fall the whole distance of the falls.
69 ft. falls crash into a large pool surrounded by two hundred foot cliff walls from which large ice formations hang in the winter. The scene is both breathtaking and peaceful as the falls combine both power and beauty. I was pleased that my daughter, who is a senior at Tech, asked if we could do this as we came up for our first visit of the fall semester.



The Cascades National Scenic Trail follows Big Stoney Creek upstream, eventually forking into an upper and lower trail. If the lower trail is definitely the more beautiful of the two. The upper trail breaks off and takes a northern route but it descends down to the stream to meet the lower trail.
The lower trail follows the stream closely past beautiful cascades and pools. After the trails rejoin, they snake their way through the narrow gorge between high cliff walls. After passing an old stone building, the falls come into view. Total hike is 4.0 miles round trip over sometimes steep terrain on a sometimes rough and slippery path.



It was one of the best four mile hikes that we've ever taken and the views were breathtaking. It's the perfect escape from the city and definitely worth seeing if you come to Virginia. I almost forgot we made the four and half mile drive to Blacksburg for a college football game the next day. Oh yeah, the Hokies won, 66 to 13. That view was pretty spectacular too.



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