Zapa Falls is a place in southern Colorado, in San Louis Valley that should have some kind of a waterfall between the mountains. Since we had some time to spare and Zapata Falls was on the route, we decided to give this a quick visit.
To reach the waterfall itself you have to take a hike up the hill at 9400 feet altitude. The hike is not too hard or long and gains about 400 feet of altitude from the parking lot to the falls. What might make it a bit challenging is the very rocky path that looks like this.
After about 1.5 kilometers we arrived at the falls. There you can see a river between the mountains but not the waterfall itself. In order to get a glimpse of the waterfall you need to get your feet wet and walk in the knee-deep water a bit inside the cave.
The problem is that the water is about +1 degrees C and yes, since it's snowmelt water straight from high altitudes. There were other people but not all wanted to go inside the cave opening, including my girlfriend. Since I was already there I wanted to see it so I went.
I have to admit that there was not much to see. Just a hard stream of water violently gushing down. The photo is not too great since I was knee-deep in freezing cold water and the cold water was also blowing in my face and on the camera.
Took this one no-good photo and quickly started walking back through the water. My girlfriend took a video of me. Here is a screenshot from this video when I was coming back.
More interesting to me than the waterfall was actually the views on the other side because you could see the Great Sand Dunes that I visited earlier from another angle and had a great view of the San Louis Valley.
Here are the sand dunes.
And a San Louis Valley. Even though it was hazy, I could still see as far as 100km away.
I don't usually say this but the waterfall itself is probably not worth your time. There is not much for you to see. If you have time to spare and want a great overview of the valley, you can drive to the parking lot where the trail to Zapata Falls starts, this one is worth it!
