I recently hiked The Cascades in Pembroke, Virginia in hopes of seeing fall foliage, and the colors throughout the hike were amazing. The Cascades trailhead is really easy to get to. Coming from Pembroke on 460, you make a turn on to Route 623, then go about four miles to the daily use parking area. Be aware there is a $3 parking fee. The trail is very popular, so finding parking can sometimes be a challenge, so if you plan to go, I recommend targeting the morning for your visit.
The trail is considered moderately challenging, and there are two routes you can choose from. The lower trail breaks off right shortly after the restrooms and takes a meandering path alongside Little Stony Creek. The lower trail is a roughly two-mile mixture of well-worn dirt paths, stoned paved areas and rocky sections. The upper trail is slightly longer by about a half a mile and is a slow and steady elevation gain all the way to the falls. I have hiked the trail many times and I prefer to take the lower trail on the way to the falls, and then take the upper trail on the way back, which means I get to enjoy a leisurely downhill walk all the way back.
Dogs are welcome on the trail, which is great because I often enjoy hiking with my best friend Tank. I thought it would be fun this time to strap my GoPro on his back and capture his perspective while on the trail. The videos I captured are hysterical. See below for some of the snippets of us making our way the falls. If you have never been there, the video does better at showing the falls than any photographs can do.
Pretty shortly after leaving the parking area you will come upon the first of two foot bridges. If you continue straight, you will be on the upper trail, a slow but steady elevation gain. Crossing the bridge will put you on the lower trail that will make its way along the creek.
The lower trail overall is pretty mild, with some areas of elevation gain that will get the heart rate up a little bit, but there are places all along the trail to sit and catch your breath when you need to. The colors in the forest right now are absolutely beautiful, with that though comes the risk of slipping on leaves, especially when its wet. There were multiple places where the leaves laying on wet rocks created especially slippery footing, so just be sure to watch your step.
The second of the two foot bridges crosses back over the creek and the path continues parallel to the upper trail but along the creek edge offering numerous places to sit at the creek's edge and enjoy the scenery.
Like so many other times I have hiked the trail, I encountered a fly fisherman hoping to land a trout from the creek, and he did so just moments after I continued up the trail. I found out later that had I waited around a few minutes I would have been able to capture evidence of his catch.
As you near the crescendo of the hike, you can hear the thunderous sounds of the falls from quite a way away providing ample motivation to finish strong. As you can see in Tank's video below, as you round that final corner the view is breathtaking.
Tank and I hung around the falls for a while to catch our breath and photograph the falls from a few different vantage points.
As we went to head back, we took the stairs to the upper trail, stopping along our way up to catch a couple more shots from some different perspectives. There is a walkway that bends around left and brings you up closer to the falls, I highly recommend climbing the stairs for the view. There is also another path that heads up to the backside of the falls. As many times as I have hiked the trail, I have not hiked up to the top of the falls; I think I might take that diversion next time I visit. I am hoping we have a HARD freeze this year and the falls freeze in place. I have only seen a couple pictures of the falls completely frozen, and it looks amazing. If you see me out there on the trails, please say hello, and if you like, I'll photograph you for your memories and mine.
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