Fall Creek Falls (Tennessee)

The next day, I woke up early and drove east out of Nashville. It was lightly raining, which was perfect conditions for waterfalls. Luckily I was heading towards a spot with a great collection of waterfalls – Fall Creek Falls State Park. The park is home to several waterfalls, including the namesake Fall Creek Falls. It’s a monster of a waterfall, and at 256 feet is the tallest free-flowing waterfall east of the Mississippi.



This was taken from an overlook at the park, which provides this view of the falls and of the slightly smaller (only a measly 250 feet) Coon Creek Falls. The park is one of the most popular state parks in Tennessee, and was even rated as one of the top ten state parks in the country. I can see why, besides the waterfalls there are miles or trails, tons of campsites and a few overlooks. There is an even a golf course if you’re in to that sort of thing. This was one of the overlooks, called Buzzard’s Roost, which stands above the Cane Creek Gorge.



The next stop was at an overlook of Piney Creek Falls. Here, the 95 foot tall falls crash into a narrow ravine.



This is a really nice park, with a lot of great places to stop and look around. This view of the creek, passing under a bluff, was taken right by the road.



The actual Fall Creek Falls isn't really the waterfall epicenter of the park. A few miles away, near the park's nature center, sit several tall waterfalls along Cane Creek. It was raining fairly heavily when I went by the nature center towards the creek, cursing the fact that forgot to bring an umbrella.

After heading down some steps you reach Cane Creek Cascades, which have been listed as 45 feet tall.



The creek then rushes under these bluffs, before curving over Cane Creek Falls.



For the best view of Cane Creek Falls, you can cross the creek on a wobbly swinging bridge that is strung up above the Cane Creek Cascades. It's not the most stable crossing, but it does provide a nice overlook of the cascade and the creek below.



From the bridge, you can follow a trail for about a mile or so to an overlook of the 85 foot Cane Creek Falls, and another bonus waterfall! For scale, you might be able to spot a few people standing on the top of the bluff in the middle of the picture.



The other waterfall is the 125 foot Rockhouse Falls, which plunges into the same pool as Cane Creek Falls.



I had gotten a bit spoiled at the park, with tons of waterfalls in just a few short hours. But my luck would quickly change. I left the park and headed towards Burgess Falls State Park, but the rain was gone and the sun was out. I tried to get a few pictures but they didn't really turn out. So I guess I'll just have to try there again on our next trip to Nashville.