Falls on the West Fork

Falls of the West Fork.  


The West Fork of the Trinity River runs through Fort Worth and forms the Trinity River when it meets the Clear Fork at downtown Fort Worth. 


In fact, one could go as far to say the original fort was established there precisely because of that fact.


I spend a great deal of time on the Clear Fork as I live on the banks of the river.  It is a place I can visit rocky rapids and a waterfall in just a five minute walk from my home.  This year I began exploring the West Fork more by bike and by Google Maps.


As I put in my last post, I began to visit several areas that I had overlooked for years.  Not only did I find some great fall color locations, I also "found" this waterfall.  I say found because I am shocked how there seems to be almost zero knowledge about it with area photographers and outdoorsmen.  Even the mountain bikers who visit the area did not mention it.  A search on Flickr only turns up a few images, none of which put it in context.  

So when I visited it and found this waterfall, I was stunned.  It is the find of my photography year-and what a way to end it!

On an mid December morning with some fall color in the trees, crisp temps, fog in the river valley and the falls putting up their own misty steam made it a fantastic location.


These falls were not the 3 foot falls I expected.  These are around a 10 foot drop!


A 10 foot drop might not be much to those folks in the mountains, but to find such a waterfall on the south plains in the middle of the city of Fort Worth is rare indeed.


The flow over the falls was nice but with the drought we have had is still minimal.  I bet they will roar when we get some spring rains.

Working on finding the best angles I sought out the best clouds and trees for backgrounds.  I was even able to wade across the river above the falls and shoot them from the far side.


These images here are my attempt to be able to show this fantastic location.  I even added an image of me on the falls taken by a buddy of mine to show them in context of how tall they really are.


I am so hoping for a cold snap, ice and snow, maybe even a good old blizzard to give this area some winter character!  Because if it does, this will be exactly where I am taking my camera.  Spring rains should make them roar and then early December will find me right back here hoping for fall colors at their peak and the falls flowing.

Adding such a place to the local areas I can photograph is a fantastic find.  One that I will get many Saturday's of visits out of.  I am not sure how I overlooked it but it makes me want to do even more exploration around town and see what else I might be missing.


See more images from the West Fork in the Trinity River section of my website Galleries.


Trinity River Galleries