Waterfalls at Chase County Lake

We took a drive over to Cottonwood Falls on Tuesday. It was a nice drive through the very green Flint Hills of Kansas.

Had lunch at the Grand Central Grill which was quite good. After touring their local Artists Mall we visited the pedestrian bridge where I got the first of many turtle photos. Interesting to note that all of the dozens of turtles we saw were snapping turtles with a “fringed” rear end, and color on their heads. There was only ONE of the smooth, non-colored turtles, and he also had a much pointier mouth than the rest. Don’t know enough to specifically ID either kind, and too lazy to Google it right now.

We then headed out to Chase County Fishing Lake where we saw the most turtles in one spot we’ve ever seen, over 35!

I then took a brief hike to the waterfalls. There are 3 levels of falls and a couple of years ago I shot the lower falls.

Yesterday I focused on the upper and middle falls.

I got some good shots, but it was too late in the day to go down further and get a shot of the middle falls from a head-on view.

Still, the shots I did get show what a nice place it is, and the falls are certainly dramatic!

Falls on the Cottonwood River
Falls on the Cottonwood River
Two Kinds of Turtles
Two Kinds of Turtles
35 Turtles on a Log
35 Turtles on a Log
Upper Falls
Upper Falls
Lower portion of Upper Falls
Lower portion of Upper Falls
Long Way Down!
Long Way Down!
Middle Falls
Middle Falls
Long Way Down!
Long Way Down!
Photo Rock (I stood by the tree)
Photo Rock (I stood by the tree)
Side View of Middle Falls
Side View of Middle Falls