The following is an actual conversation I had with an actual family in the parking lot on a Saturday afternoon:

Mother: Is there any way to get to the closed waterfall?

Me: Which waterfall is that?

Daughter: The one with the “closed” sign.

Me: Well, if there’s a “closed” sign, I’m pretty sure that means it’s closed.

Good grief! I’m not exactly sure how even the Forest Service can “close” a waterfall, but a sign reading “closed” is a pretty good indicator the Forest  Service doesn’t want people hanging out in that location. Even if I knew what waterfall the women were talking about (which I didn’t at the time and still don’t), and I knew another way to get to it, I’m pretty sure my job description does not include  telling tourist how to circumvent Forest Service closings.

I took all three photos of waterfalls in this post. They were all open when I took the photos.