Flat Florida

Our stay was at Falling Waters State Park.  It is the home of Florida’s tallest waterfall.  While John slept and recovered in the RV, I took the short hike to the falls.  They say a gristmill was powered by the waterfall during the Civil War period, but I didn’t see any signs of it.  It’s difficult to take a picture of the falls.  You go into a pit to see it and are standing near the middle.  So here’s a picture of the top and bottom.

The falls is 73’ high (Niagara Falls is 167’ tall while Angel Falls in Venezuela is 3,212’).  The water falls into a sinkhole to be able to drop that distance (did I mention that Florida is flat?).  The whole area is full of sinkholes; a karst topography.  The limestone below has been slowly dissolved by slightly acidic water. 

The campground is on a “Florida mountain”.  That translates into being 318’ above sea level and is the 4^th highest ‘mountain’ in Florida.  The peak of Florida is a towering 345’ above sea level.  In reality, I couldn’t tell I was on a hill at all until I returned from my walk to see the falls.  There was some uphill to the walk, but nowhere as steep as hills we have hiked in the past.  Though, after recovering from my cold, it felt pretty high.  John was able to see the falls in the morning by driving back to a parking lot that was close to the falls.

The whole area is relaxing with ferns, moss, or large longleaf pine trees.  I wish we were more healthy to really enjoy it, but the relaxing scenery was enjoyable.