Pearson Falls
The
principle guiding this post won’t alter too much from the last: sometimes, less
is more.
Pearson
Falls, for example, wouldn’t (and often doesn’t) register in the vast Blue
Ridge—Smoky Mountains region that features national parks, national forests,
national historic sites, recreation areas, resorts, you name it. You can hike
their entire network of trails in the time it takes to watch a ‘Game of Thrones’
episode. The water fall at the end of the trail is gorgeous, but there are many
more of these in the area.
In short, while this may a perfect walk wasted for adults (and I’ll even dispute that), it is absolutely perfect for kids.
Remember what I wrote about Hollywild. My kids have been to the San Diego Zoo, to the Serengeti, and an elephant safari in Nepal. All of these trips had one thing in common: the kids couldn’t wait to pack up and leave once all was said and done. Sure, the first few animals will wow them. But somewhere around zebra #312, wildebeest # 10,675, and the ninth hummingbird species, the trip becomes one long zzzzzzzzzzzzzz. The kids can’t even be bothered anymore, once the action finally shifts to a cheetah tackling prey or an anaconda big enough to crush our entire family in one sitting. Think that cheetah is fast? It doesn’t remotely compare to how fast a kid’s attention span can go.
You will notice the difference between the kids whining and wailing about wanting to leave and the same whine and wail you’ll hear when you need to tear them away from something. Again, it’s the difference between the ‘too much’, like the San Diego Zoo, and the ‘not enough’, like a one or two hour stay at the playground or the pool. Somewhere in between is the ideal, where the kids are ready to go, no kicking and flailing necessary. And parents, especially, know what I’m talking about.
Pearson Falls itself is a few miles from Saluda, NC, neatly tucked away off Route 176. Once you park your car near the entrance, the trail is no more than a half a mile, and I don’t even think it's that long. So, let the kids hike and grumble until they reach the water falls and the creeks, where they can kick off their shoes and wade through the ice cold water.
In the meantime, there are also picnic tables where you can have lunch. So the kids can jump in and out of the water, dash along the trails (it’s hardly going to bother the two or three families that made it there that day), while the parents can enjoy some R&R and maybe check out some of the wildflowers. Even the kids will notice the odd plant here and there. Again, these aren’t your splendid gardens of the thousand orchids in Singapore—there’s just enough to go around for the whole family, and to actually catch the kids’ attention.
In the end, the kids hike less than a mile, but they learn more in two and a half hours of watching the plants and wildlife in Pearson Falls than the two and a half days spent at the Sopa Lodge in the heart of the Serengeti. This is the perfect day trip, as summed up by their reaction when Liebi and I tell the kids it's time to go. ‘Okay’, they simply say.
No meltdown from staying too long, no fallout for having stayed not long enough. Whenever that is your kids’ reaction to your suggestion to leave, you’ve found the perfect place.
That’s the thing about the States. This country is full of the little places, the minor domestic tourist sites that have as many visitors in a year as Disneyworld has in an hour. I’m already looking forward to the next one.
In short, while this may a perfect walk wasted for adults (and I’ll even dispute that), it is absolutely perfect for kids.
Remember what I wrote about Hollywild. My kids have been to the San Diego Zoo, to the Serengeti, and an elephant safari in Nepal. All of these trips had one thing in common: the kids couldn’t wait to pack up and leave once all was said and done. Sure, the first few animals will wow them. But somewhere around zebra #312, wildebeest # 10,675, and the ninth hummingbird species, the trip becomes one long zzzzzzzzzzzzzz. The kids can’t even be bothered anymore, once the action finally shifts to a cheetah tackling prey or an anaconda big enough to crush our entire family in one sitting. Think that cheetah is fast? It doesn’t remotely compare to how fast a kid’s attention span can go.
You will notice the difference between the kids whining and wailing about wanting to leave and the same whine and wail you’ll hear when you need to tear them away from something. Again, it’s the difference between the ‘too much’, like the San Diego Zoo, and the ‘not enough’, like a one or two hour stay at the playground or the pool. Somewhere in between is the ideal, where the kids are ready to go, no kicking and flailing necessary. And parents, especially, know what I’m talking about.
Pearson Falls itself is a few miles from Saluda, NC, neatly tucked away off Route 176. Once you park your car near the entrance, the trail is no more than a half a mile, and I don’t even think it's that long. So, let the kids hike and grumble until they reach the water falls and the creeks, where they can kick off their shoes and wade through the ice cold water.
In the meantime, there are also picnic tables where you can have lunch. So the kids can jump in and out of the water, dash along the trails (it’s hardly going to bother the two or three families that made it there that day), while the parents can enjoy some R&R and maybe check out some of the wildflowers. Even the kids will notice the odd plant here and there. Again, these aren’t your splendid gardens of the thousand orchids in Singapore—there’s just enough to go around for the whole family, and to actually catch the kids’ attention.
In the end, the kids hike less than a mile, but they learn more in two and a half hours of watching the plants and wildlife in Pearson Falls than the two and a half days spent at the Sopa Lodge in the heart of the Serengeti. This is the perfect day trip, as summed up by their reaction when Liebi and I tell the kids it's time to go. ‘Okay’, they simply say.
No meltdown from staying too long, no fallout for having stayed not long enough. Whenever that is your kids’ reaction to your suggestion to leave, you’ve found the perfect place.
That’s the thing about the States. This country is full of the little places, the minor domestic tourist sites that have as many visitors in a year as Disneyworld has in an hour. I’m already looking forward to the next one.
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