Dismal Creek Falls

[canyonwalker]

Blue Ridge Trip '24 #5
Bland, VA - Sun, 1 Sep 2024. 5:30pm

First of all, Yes, there's really a Dismal Creek Falls. It's on Dismal Creek, which is that small waterway's actual name. (Though some maps title the falls Falls of Dismal.) And also Yes, I am also not making this up, it's just outside the town of Bland, Virginia. In fact Bland is not just a bland little town, it's the county seat of Bland County. Yes, the whole dang county is bland. And from what I can tell its main industry is the state prison in Bland. I guess that's what makes Bland dismal.



Dismal falls is actually anything but dismal, even on a dismal day like today has been. Yes, it's raining. Even despite this rain there are a few carloads at Dismal Falls enjoying the water. Imagine how overrun this place would be if the weather were merely bland, let alone good! 😂

Okay, in all seriousness, I am surprised by how crowded these falls are on a shitty late afternoon, out here in the middle of freakin' nowhere. The town of Bland has a population of just 300. ...Actually it's not even a town, it's an unincorporated area. The whole of Bland County is around 6,000 people— probably not including the prison inmates. It's one of the least populated counties in the state and it contains no incorporated towns or cities. But hey, you don't have to be an incorporated town to have kids who want to do something outdoors. In fact, it probably because Bland is so... dismal... that probably every person under 25 in the town— all, like, ten of them— is out here this afternoon.

Comments

[canyonwalker]

My first thought was that Boring, OR must be in the sparsely populated eastern third of the state. It turns out it's more like a far flung suburb of Portland. So while I haven't been to Boring, OR, I've been within about 5 miles.