When I first started playing skyrim, I explored the landscape for a bit after getting out of Helgen, and found this really pretty place that's stuck in my head at the moment. It's up in the mountains somewhere, with a mountain stream with tons of waterfalls down in a canyon below, and there's a fallen tree bridging the canyon. There's also a small bandit camp near the fallen tree which gave me my first taste of the epic physics, because a bandit came up to me and threatened me but I hit him off the log to fall to his doom in the rushing waters below

I thought it was somewhere around the throat of the world, but I've scoured that whole area and can't seem to find it. It can't be that far from Helgen/Riverwood though, since it was at the very start of the game and a I didn't have a horse. So does anyone know where I can find it?

If it's the same place I'm thinking of, it is around the Throat of the World. Follow the dirt trail that leads out the back of Ivarstead, and pay attention to your surroundings. You should eventually be able to see it off to your left as you go down the path, not far from the road the trail ends at. Sorry I can't be more specific. I'll try to find it in game so I can take a screenshot of the map location.

Disregard my last post. I found it in-game and the location I gave you was off, but not by much. http://i634.photobucket.com/albums/uu63/cory3593/ScreenShot32.jpg (Where my character is standing, not where the mouse pointer is.)

Awesome that's the spot, thanks

EDIT: Lol I found the body of the bandit I knocked off, not far from the base of the falls under the tree. And I knocked him off like...2 weeks ago I think.