Fall Creek Falls

01/27/05

Fall Creek Falls State Park is located just south of Crossville, Tennessee on the Cumberland Plateau. Trip date November 12 - 14, 2002.

This trip was essentially a "shakedown" for me and my gear. The weather was absolutely perfect. Temperatures were in the mid 50s during the day and mid 30s at night with clear skies, no wind. The trip turned into quite an adventure the second day; there was a tornado outbreak across the Plateau and Tennessee River valley a few days before and it definitely left it's mark on the Park. From the Eastern edge of the Cane Creek gorge you could see a path of massive blowdowns from the top of the Western edge, down into the gorge, and up the Eastern side. The main trail was left impassable much of the way, and navigating around the blowdows became the adventure. It took most of the day to travel a little more than 4.5 miles.

The final day out was less troublesome and provided beautiful views of the many waterfalls in the park, as well as many encounters with day hikers whose main question was "how much further is it??"

I took what is called the lower loop trail, which is approximately 14 miles round trip with two backcountry campsites.

Back Country Map of Fall Creek Falls