Burney Falls
Hike Review
Due to the full parking lot, we parked about a third of a mile from the park entrance, which we walked to get to Burney Falls. We then took the Burney Falls Trail to get down to the bottom of the waterfall.
The side-of-the-road walking was the worst, as temperatures were in the high 90s with the cars moving rather quickly past us. The actual Burney Falls trail was fully paved—with the temperatures dropping rapidly with proximity to the waterfall.
There were so many people at the waterfall, but given the high temperature, it was easy to see why.
The water was frigid and caused me to feel pain in my feet after about 20 seconds. Still, there were people who were hanging out in the water, so I guess it’s possible to enjoy it once used to it.
There were bathrooms near the park entrance, but the visitor center was closed. There was a non-functioning water fountain, which was also a bummer. On the way up though, we did find a working water faucet, which we used to cool us down and refill our water bottle.
What I Learned
I can’t deal with heat well, but I didn’t think the walk in 90+ degree weather was too bad. The girls however, did not have a fun time. Once we treated ourselves to an ICEE at a gas station 10 minutes away, we did feel much better.
The waterfall was awesome—the literal definition. The roar of the waterfall was deafening and the way the water seem to come of the rocks was puzzling.
What Happened?
1.8 miles, 1 hr 11 mins, 241 ft of ascent
I was hoping that by the afternoon, maybe the crowds would have gone away from the waterfall, but I was totally off. The park was so packed that we just parked on the side of the road (like the rest of the dozens of cars) and walked to the park.
Inside, we were hoping to stop by the visitor center for some snacks or badges, but it was closed, so we hiked directly to the waterfall. The girls were feeling a bit tired by the walk, but when the temperature started dropping, the smiles resurfaced—with the smiles being the biggest at the bottom of the falls. The girls were good to pose for photos for me and otherwise, just played around with the cold water to cool down. Annabelle’s favorite activity was scooping up the icy water with her hat and putting the hat on as she squealed with delight drenching herself.
After a 30 minute or so break, we hiked back to the car. It was just too hot to contemplate walking the whole loop, so it was just a straight hike back to the car. At the car, we turned on the AC as high it would go and found the closest gas station, which just so happened to have the most delicious ICEE/slurpee (it had the perfect texture) that we had in a very long time.
