Falling Waters State Park — Hotel in Chipley

I decided to hop in the car today and go for a drive. I ended up driving for about 2 hours before I realized I was just a couple minutes away from Falling Waters State Park so I hooked a right off 98 and checked it out.

It's not a bad little day trip. It was relatively cheap to enter ($4 for just me) and it has pretty much everything a person could want. There's a camping area for those wanting to stay overnight, a picnic area for those wanting to sit down with some food, a lake for those wanting to swim, and most importantly there's the waterfall for those wishing to bask in nature's beauty.

The trail isn't very long, which isn't a bad thing! If you're looking for a quick hike or you're just looking for a random and fun afternoon activity then this is definitely a place you want to visit. If you’re in the area. I don't think it's necessarily a place I'd seek out if I lived 2+ hours away but I enjoyed my time there.

The waterfall itself is pretty lackluster. It's still cool to see the giant pit in the ground but if your only reason for coming here is to see the waterfall I'd suggest developing more reasons. Then again, it also hasn't rained much lately and it's possible that I just came at a time when the waterfall wasn't its normal splendor.

Either way, I definitely recommend coming here if you just want an escape, time to kill, or are in the area. Shout out to the gate guard too. I don't remember her name but she was a...

Back in the murky heart of Falling Waters State Park, where the cypress roots tangle like old secrets and the Spanish moss whispers to the wind, folks say something unnatural was born in the swampy backwaters after a hurricane stirred up more than just water.

They say a rogue nutria—mean as a snake and twice as ugly—had taken up in a half-flooded culvert near the falls. This particular nutria was a survivor. Mean, scarred, and smarter than the rest. One night, during a wicked storm, lightning struck the pond, and from the glowing muck rose something new. Half gator, half nutria… all fury.

Nutrogator.

He’s got the long, slick tail and twitchy whiskers of a nutria, but the armor-plated back and eyes of a prehistoric beast. Walks on two legs when he’s mad. Silent in the water, fast on land. Locals swear he guards the old trails near the sinkhole, hunting down litterbugs and chasing off teens who sneak in after dark.

Rangers won’t admit it, but they leave raw chicken behind the utility shed every Thursday. Just… in case.

And if you’re hiking and hear a splash where there shouldn’t be one, or spot red eyes blinking from a shadowy log? Best turn around and head back the way you came.

Because once Nutrogator’s on your trail… you don’t get a...

I enjoyed my time at Falling Waters! My friends and I went RV camping here for 4 nights and had a great time. The campground was well maintained with adequate RV hookups and dump. The trails are basically all wooden and are short and sweet. It was raining the whole day and we ended up walking to the waterfall in the rain. It was a nice experience and the waterfall was pretty full. Keep in mind this is Florida and this is in no way a waterfall typical of a mountainous region. Each campsite comes with a wooden bench and a fire pit and is big enough for most RV. The facilities are all updated and are very clean. The only bad thing (sort of big for me) is that the campsites are really close together with nothing to separate you from your neighbors. I love the seclusion of camping and being surrounded by vegetation but I didn't get that here at all. I think that the park is still recovering from the hurricane a few years back. They seemed to have burnt some of the vegetation but am not sure of the reason why. Maybe there was a sickness affecting the trees? Overall,...