Today was an adventure day with the family. No one had ever been to High Falls Gorge before and so we decided to take advantage of my free passes. Drew mentioned that this was just one of the perks in marrying me along with his free ski pass and health benefits.As soon as we left the building and were on the bridge over the Ausable, everyone reached for their camera.
After crossing the bridge you can turn left to the "Ausable River Mining Co." where you can let the mud and water run through your purchased bag of mining rough to see if you might find a gemstone. This didn't really look like it was in operation, maybe they turned the water off in preparation for winter.
From here we went to check out the 700 feet of waterfalls. There is an easy trail you can take where you don't have any inclines or any stairs. We were all in pretty good shape so we figured we could take the scenic trail along the river.
We knew this wasn't going to be Niagara Falls, but it turned out being pretty impressive. We took a casual walk back to the picnic area and had lunch.
The day was still young and we all wanted to take full advantage of what High Falls Gorge Adventure Center had to offer so we went for a hike. There is a "loop" hiking trail that takes you through the Climax Forest.
The trail is definitely a little more rugged than the walk along the falls, but not difficult by any means. Although, it can get a little tricky in the fall when the leaves are covering the roots and rocks.
On the way back to the car, I asked everyone what they thought of their High Falls Gorge experience. My father said, "I'd give it an 8+ out of 10." Drew had a few comments: "About what I expected, quite nice. I wish there was a vending machine on the trail, I'm really thirsty." My mother thought "it was very pleasant."
High Falls Gorge advertised at their counter that it was $10.50 for adults. Living in the Adirondacks, we all agreed that it would be a good and convenient place to send people that aren't hikers or tourists that don't like going "off the beaten path." We did enjoy our day here, but we probably wouldn't have paid $42 as a family. That might be because we know of waterfalls in the Adirondacks that you can see for free.
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2 comments:
I've been through High Falls Gorge several times with out-of-town guests in many different seasons. My favorite time was in the winter just after a big snowfall. They clear the trail through the gorge and they have YakTrak for everyone. In our case they even put them on our shoes for us. That's service! There was some running water and lots of frozen "water falls." It was beautiful. You can also rent snow shoes and you can snowshoe through their trails. I haven't tried that.
Thank you for taking us on a tour of the Gorge. I always wondered what it was like in there, and if it was worth the $$.
Keep up the good work, the blog is great!
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