Overall Run Falls

Author's Comments

The falls disappear in August. That is the thing nobody mentions when they recommend this hike. You will put in six and a half miles and a serious amount of elevation only to arrive at a stained rock face with a trickle running down it, and you will wonder what you came for. Spring is the only honest season here. Late April, early May, after a week of rain if you can time it, when the hollow is still running full and the two tiers are actually tiers instead of suggestions. The upper overlook is where most people stop, and I understand why. You get the bird's-eye view, both drops visible, the hollow falling away beneath you in a way that gives the ninety-three feet some real scale. It is a wide-lens photograph and it wants overcast light, not sun, because the contrast in a deep hollow at midday is impossible. A soft gray morning is the gift here. If you have the legs left, the trail continues down to the base, and that is where a long exposure earns its keep. The water is loud. The hollow is cold even in May. You are far enough in that you will likely have it to yourself, which is rare for anything in this park that has a name and a rating. Bring a tripod, bring a polarizer, bring more time than you think the descent requires because the climb out is where the hike actually begins.

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