Located to the north of Bracebridge is High Falls. There is a picnic area and plenty of parking for those that want to view one of the better falls in the area. It is impressive and only a minute or two off the main highway.
This location was our fifth stop in our Frozen Waterfalls Weekend Road Trip. We have seen the main and majestic High Falls before but I was unaware of the two smaller falls that is in the area.
The picnic area is not maintained for the winter, and even though we saw the tire tracks of another vehicle, we decided to park on the side of the road by the entrance. Good thing because we saw just how hard it was for that person to have gotten out of the park as we walked in.
When we visit this location in the summer, we usually park by the main falls and walk in during the warmer weather. This time we were coming in backwards, and I was trying to guess the location of the undiscovered falls. I looked at my map and thought we were almost parallel to it and needed to get off the roadway and cross into the woods.
As I spoke them to my wife, those words sounded easy and even reassuring, especially when I pointed to the general location as “it is right there.” Right there had to be more than 30 metres, but the first 15 metres were a surprise. Despite seeing the frozen, brown weeds poking through the snow, the snow was very deep. I was fortunate enough to be leading the way, and the sound of me crunching through the icy top drowned out my wife’s complaining.
It was not a long passage, and we could hear the sound of the falls. We found a path and wondered how we had missed this location before. It is a minor fall with a few steps and a decent water flow. I stopped to take a pic of my wife enjoying this view.
This place is so picturesque that a couple getting their engagement photos also happened to be there. Here we are, all bundled up for a Canadian winter wearing the warmest clothes, with grips on our feet, hats and mitts, and they were wearing clothes as if inside a warm home. Even the photographer was lightly dressed. They were there for quite a while, taking pictures in various locations, and never once showed any sign of a chill. It is a great place to get good photos of the falls, rocks, and trees.
We left them to their moment together, wondering where they parked since we saw no other cars. We made our way to the main falls. Called High Falls (like so many other falls in the world – dozens in Ontario alone), it delivered the promise of being impressive. We approached and watched the water and listened to the sound of thousands of gallons crashing down on the rocks. We saw a small temporary fall beside this one and the other one that is relatively small. We stayed for a more extended period of time than we had anticipated enjoying the solitude of this winter morning. The weather was just perfect, and we were sharing this together. Why leave when we found a spot that was just right for the two of us?
We eventually left this masterpiece of nature and saw the first fall again. This time, I avoided the deep snow and found our car ready for our next destination. There is something about this place and that moment that even as I write this post, I still feel the peace and comfort of being out in nature with the one person I cherish more than any other.
I hope that the couple we encountered there has found the same love.
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