Blue Ridge waterfall calls out to hikers

"There's something about the movement of the water, the calming noise of it and the beautiful sights," Assistant Forest Supervisor Bruce McDonald said.

At High Falls on the Little River, near Cedar Mountain, 150 feet of cascading water call out to hikers.

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"We saw it up there and wanted to climb down and check it out," hiker Becky Streibel said.

Tourist Erica Janson said she and her family were seeking out waterfalls along the nearby Blue Ridge Parkway.

"This is our third waterfall, but this is the biggest," Janson said.

Park rangers and forest managers warn that the beauty of the waterfall hides potentially fatal dangers.

"People get in and are swept up by the beauty and don't realize that there is power in the moving water, that wet rocks can be as slick as ice," McDonald said. "Don't climb up on the rocks."

Streibel's husband, Jeremy, said that it's worth a hike into the hills just to sit at the foot of the waterfall. "It's worth every step. It's better than sitting at the house and watching TV," he said.

Jeremy Streibel said he intends the vacation to High Falls to be the start of a life lesson for their 17-month-old daughter, Laila.

"If we lose things like this, then she'll never realize what we worked to protect and how valuable these resources are," he said.