Odle Family Hikes: Bridal Veil Falls (Provo Canyon)

So our first "hike" was to Bridal Veil Falls. I say "hike" as it is really more of a leisurely stroll than an actual hike. Unfortunately for reasons unknown to us, the parking area by the falls is still closed. The only sign that we could find said that the area is closed until March 31st each year. Well..............it was APRIL 17 but whatever. So we parked along the road and got down onto the trail. The trail to the falls is completely paved so we were able to bring the stroller for Emily. We did test out Emily (18 months) on Daddy's shoulders and she seemed ok with that (which will come in handy on future hikes as most do not allow strollers). Brandon is almost 4 and walked (although by the end he was "getting pretty tired").

Its a bit early in the Spring for the trees so it was a little brown along the trail. Having said that though, between the 75 degree weather and the river along the trail its a pleasant little trip. The falls themselves were beautiful as usual. We were able to go up the rocks a bit and take some pictures. While you CAN hike much further up the falls we didn't. With two little kids it just wasn't practical. The tram has not operated for some time (this used to take you up to the top of the falls).
I do have one little aside here. The area directly around the falls has several signs that clearly state "WALKING ONLY". This area is probably 50 yards or so. The reason for this is fairly obvious. People like to STOP and look at the falls, take pictures, skip rocks...you get the idea. In the 10 minutes that we were there, there were at least 4 groups of bikers who decided that the rules did not apply to them. Perhaps they couldn't read.....hmmmmm....yeah, that's it!! maybe they couldn't read. OR for some reason they thought that the rules didn't apply to them. Yes, I know. Its just SOOOOOOO hard to get off of your bike for 15 seconds and walk it through the walking only area. But for those of you who do visit the falls on a bike, skateboard, scooter, ect. PLEASE walk through the walking area. While it was lots of FUN trying to avoid getting run over while keeping two kids from getting run over and trying snap a few pics, NOT having to do that would have been so much better :).

Overall the falls were great. It was an excellent way to start our hiking tradition. Next week Ensign Peak (weather permitting). Here are a few more pictures from the trip....