McArthur–Burney Falls

Solid place to visit or camp at. The sites are well shaded, on soft dirt, have showers, and are well marked. The day use area is also beautiful on the lake peninsula. You can rent kayaks at that area. Showers use shower tokens which you can buy at the shower stalls. One dollar gives you two tokens, and one token gives two minutes of showering (so one dollar is four minutes of showering). For summer 2024 the trail to the lower falls is closed due to construction so you're limited to the observation deck.

Large state park. The main attraction is Burney Falls but the park is pretty big with a large lake and hiking trails. Saw some deer driving down to the lake. Watching people attempting to get their boats or jet skis in the lake provided some good entertainment. Currently the trail to the base of the falls is closed but looks like it will be open by 2025.

McArthur-Burney Falls is absolutely breathtaking! The falls are massive and surrounded by lush greenery, creating a serene and picturesque setting. The short hike to the viewpoint is easy and well worth it. This spot is a must-visit for anyone who loves nature and stunning waterfalls. Highly recommend!

Managed to check out yet another waterfall during our latest trip, and while Burney Falls wasn't my absolute favorite, it was extremely impressive up close, and has a fun little hiking loop to take if you wanted to. Got there around 8:15AM, and I HIGHLY recommend getting there as early as possible! We found a parking spot up close to the Falls, but by the time we left (around 9:45AM), there was a line of cars waiting to get in that stretched BOTH directions on the main road in. I'm assuming youre wait would probably be around a half hour at minimum, if there was even space to park to begin with (no idea if they cap the amount of people coming in, so they may well have been holding people until others left). We had our dogs with us, which unfortunately, are unable to go down to the Falls. You are allowed to have them on the paved lookout platform at the top, but we were told the only other spot dogs were allowed at was a mile-ish long trail down closer to the lake by some campgrounds. We didn't end up doing that trail, and one of our group was fine staying with the dogs while we went down to the Falls, but just know be aware. The hike down was pretty cool, as you have a view through the trees the entire time. There are some spots with stairs, but most of it is smooth pavement. There are some fairly steep sections, and the general area was covered in mist spray from the Falls, so it was pretty slick. Definitely don't recommend walking down in flip-flops... The views at the base were crazy! The noise and power the water has was impressive to see and hear. There were some folks taking wedding photos down at the bank of the water, which is a bit of a bummer as they were ruining one of the better angles you could take photos from. The path away from the Falls followed the water for a bit before coming to an small little half-moon shaped bridge. There aren't steps up and down, and instead it's just a smooth wood deck, so considering how slick it was, it was a bit tricky getting across it. It also felt very rickety once you were on it, haha. From there, it starts heading up hill at a decent clip, and while there are a few spots to see the Falls from here, it's mostly covered by hillside or thick tree lines. There are a few sets of steps once you get towards the top. It then stays fairly level, the view of the source water opening up once you get past the Falls, where you see another, much sturdier bridge you have to cross. Once you cross this, it's just a couple hundred feet or so until you're back to the start viewing area. It was a nice little scenic hike, and was mostly shaded, so definitely nice and cool. As mentioned before, there are some other areas to explore there, but we ended up just checking out the Falls loop and then leaving.

This was my second visit here, so I'm very lucky! I took my friend here to show her the falls. We went on labor day and there was a crowd of course. The line to get in was a little long. The weather was perfect. It does get really chilly as you approach the falls though. The general store is great! There are plenty of restrooms here, right across from the general store. The visitor's center was closed due to the holiday. The falls are a blessing to see. The loop is only a mile or just over a mile. It's not too long and easy to do, worth it. Just An absolute must see! The standby bridge is just down the road too.