Adventure: Wonder Falls

The Little Sandy Creek is an adventure classic... so I had always wondered how much crazier it would get as it flowed south into the Big Sandy in the hills West Virginia. I had been aware of an area in particular there for some time-- Wonder Falls-- but for some reason wasn't terribly interested. Until I met a guy out at Creek Falls who really hyped it up... great jumping, decent offroading, amazing scenery and a second waterfall further down known colloquially as the Big Splat according to him. Not too far from the cabin either. It had the makings of one of the classics in its own right. I coaxed Gunz into one last trip for the summer to see if Wonder Falls could really be as good as my informant claimed. 


Jeepin' and jumpin' after the jump... click read more!

On sunny summer morning we headed south into the wilderness of WV. This shotty old bridge took us right over the Big Sandy to the actual trailhead. Sort of odd for it to even be there considering how far into the middle of nowhere we were but I guess at some point in time these roads were a bit more drivable. The crossing gave us our first look at the Big Sandy, which was beautiful despite being in severe drought.

After crossing, some ATV riders pointed us to the trailhead (right up the bigass hill) and up we went. At the top we came across what was left of a pretty shoddy little shack. Local lore has it that this was once the home of the infamous squatter Dirty Sally. Decades ago, she refused to leave the property and remained there in squalor with no utilities for years, becoming such a cult hero in the area that would-be fans would bring her supplies she couldn't afford. It took her eventual death to get the shack deserted.

Passing by the old shack, the trail passed down a rough slope and then followed the waterway to our destination. It was a rough ride but hey that's why I brought a Jeep, eh? 

 

  

When we saw some other trucks and SUVs parked in a group we knew we were in the right place. There was a bit of a weekend crowd there but Wonder Falls looked... well, wonderful. We parked the Jeep and found our way down to the cliffs. When we approached the falls, the other visitors were maintaining a safe distance from the edge. We had a bit of an audience as we both walked to the drop and jumped over the edge. The drop was about 18-22 feet so not particularly spectacular but it was a lot of fun, especially as the crowd watched in awe and a crude ladder made it easy to repeat the leap.

 

It was all fun and game until Gunz broke his toe on a rock. Oops. In front of a bunch of onlookers too. Fail.

That kinda ended the fun for Gunz and the dozen or so rednecks made us a bit uneasy so we decided to hike downstream in pursuit of the second waterfall, Big Splat Falls. This place was unique to begin with but the extremely low water made it look really out of place in the Alleghenies... looks almost like something you'd see in the Rockies. Regardless, it made for a good swimming hole.

 
Instead of heading back up the footpath to the Jeep, we decided to move right up the stream since it was so low and it such a hot day. It made for a really fun hike through a really unique area. The scenery was even more amazing than from footpath... tons of small waterfalls, rapids, pools, chutes, and eddies. The rock formations were spectacular and like the Big Splat looked pretty outta place for the Chestnut Ridge. There were some random boulders strewn about to boot. Of course, this route lead us to an incident with a snake in a boot... but you wouldn't believe me if I typed it to you. 
And that'll just about do it folks. After lots of great swimming and some minor cliff jumping, a great Jeep ride, and a run-in with a slithering friend we called it a day and headed back to our campsite for the night.A little piece of the Rockies right here in the Appalachians.


Tally-ho!
-Crash