This past weekend I traveled to the land of Tennessee waterfalls, Fall Creek Falls State Park, for the Spring edition of the Tennessee Sierra Club Chapter Meeting. This was my first visit to Tennessee's most popular state park and it is easy to see why. I got to enjoy six waterfalls, and these weren't small ones. The smallest, Cane Creek Cascade was 40 feet (I guess Hidden Cascade is the smallest, but I don't know how large it is) while the namesake of the park, Fall Creek Falls, is a 256 footer making it the tallest free-falling cascade east of the Mississippi River.
When I got to the park on Friday afternoon I started out from the Betty Dunn Nature Center and headed down to the aforementioned Cane Creek Cascade before getting on the Scenic Loop Road (in my car) for a visit to Millikan's Overlook, which had a great view. However, an even better one awaited on a short hike to Buzzard Roost. It got its name from the Buzzards (really Vultures) that roost there...and they were there (until I scared them off). Nearby I could hear water flowing and it was a waterfall flowing into Cane Creek Gorge. I named it Hidden Cascade. I followed the loop to its end which was also the parking area for Piney Creek Falls. I was told by a state park official that it wasn't worth my time, but you be the judge of this 95-foot cascade.
I then stopped by the Fall Creek Falls Overlook for a quick look at it and it shorter companion, Coon Creek Falls (six feet shorter). Going down to the base of the falls would not happen until Saturday afternoon. It wasn't the original afternoon hike but Ranger Randy, Ron, and I thought, because of weather, it a good idea to change it. The hike down is about a half-mile, but the trail is pretty rocky. We passed a number of Rock Houses and a formation called Refrigerator Rock. Once at the base the two waterfalls were an impressive sight. It gives you an idea of how massive they are (look for the guy who stupidly went behind the falls). Well worth the hike down...a lot of people were happy with our change.
Which is a good thing as our Saturday morning hike on the Paw Paw Trail was shortened by rain and we saw no Pink Lady Slippers. However, I did see my first Mountain Laurel of Spring...nice! Since my group, Harvey Broome was the host I had a job both days... breakfast duty. Sunday also meant the Ex-Com Meeting was the final official activity of the Chapter Meeting, however not mine.
Before I headed back home I hiked the Cane Creek Gorge Loop (using the Gorge Overlook and Woodland Trails) which passed three overlooks with the first, Cane Creek Falls, offering my first look at the massive 85-foot cascade. To its left plunging into the same pool was 115-foot Rock House Falls. In-between was an overlook I passed on Friday, but more on it later. The next overlook gave a great view of the of Cane Creek Gulf. The final one I did on this loop was the Rocky Point Overlook. This one was a rock scramble out to the point. It had views of the gulf and one of Coon Creek Falls, which had greater water flow than the other two days. This is because unlike Fall Creek, which the falls are controlled by the lake, Coon Creek is wild flowing.
Once completing the loop it was time to, again, enjoy Cane Creek Cascade which was roaring on this day. My final stop was at that overlook I mention earlier which offered stunning views of Cane Creek and Rock House Falls. Because of the weather, I didn't do the Cable Trail (next time).
Overall this state park lived up to the hype and I will say it is THE Tennessee Waterfall Park.
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