Hiking Rifle Falls
Jul. 6th, 2022 09:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerColorado Travelog #8
Rifle Falls State Park, CO - Sunday, 3 Jul 2022, 10:30am
Day 2 of our Colorado Road Trip has gotten off to a beautiful start. We slept in a bit, then after jettisoning our excess baggage (literally) we had a pleasant 45 minute drive, mostly on country roads, to Rifle Falls State Park. The sun has been shining nicely, and the park was just starting to get crowded. Meaning, we got one of the last parking spaces near the trailhead.
Rifle Falls is a small park. You can see all the best parts with less than a mile of walking. But boy, does it pack a punch.
The highlight is the triple waterfall on Rifle Creek. The stream splits just slight above the falls and pours over these three chutes.
Various short paths lead to different vantage points for viewing the falls. In the photo above I've taken a path around to the left from the bottom and climbed up old debris below the cliff.
In these photos you can see there are hollows and caves in the cliffs. That's because the stone is very soft. It's limestone (calcium carbonate). It erodes easily from wind and rain.
Often erosion is also the story of how waterfalls form. Here, though, the falls seem to have formed from the opposite of erosion. The cliff was built up by calcium carbonate deposits from the water. Over time the cliff got taller and taller from deposits and dammed up the stream into a lake above.
Unique geology aside, Rifle Falls is a fun place to visit. The cliff is riddled with limestone caves, most of them small but a few quite big. There's even one that goes behind the largest falls.
Rifle Falls State Park, CO - Sunday, 3 Jul 2022, 10:30am
Day 2 of our Colorado Road Trip has gotten off to a beautiful start. We slept in a bit, then after jettisoning our excess baggage (literally) we had a pleasant 45 minute drive, mostly on country roads, to Rifle Falls State Park. The sun has been shining nicely, and the park was just starting to get crowded. Meaning, we got one of the last parking spaces near the trailhead.
Rifle Falls is a small park. You can see all the best parts with less than a mile of walking. But boy, does it pack a punch.
The highlight is the triple waterfall on Rifle Creek. The stream splits just slight above the falls and pours over these three chutes.
Various short paths lead to different vantage points for viewing the falls. In the photo above I've taken a path around to the left from the bottom and climbed up old debris below the cliff.
In these photos you can see there are hollows and caves in the cliffs. That's because the stone is very soft. It's limestone (calcium carbonate). It erodes easily from wind and rain.
Often erosion is also the story of how waterfalls form. Here, though, the falls seem to have formed from the opposite of erosion. The cliff was built up by calcium carbonate deposits from the water. Over time the cliff got taller and taller from deposits and dammed up the stream into a lake above.
Unique geology aside, Rifle Falls is a fun place to visit. The cliff is riddled with limestone caves, most of them small but a few quite big. There's even one that goes behind the largest falls.
