Fall Creek Falls State Park facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Fall Creek Falls State Park |
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| Type | Tennessee State Park |
| Location | Bledsoe and Van Buren counties |
| Area | 26,000 acres (110 km2) |
| Created | 1935 |
| Operated by | Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation |
| Open | Year round |
| Website | Fall Creek Falls State Park |
Fall Creek Falls State Resort Park is a huge state park in Van Buren and Bledsoe counties, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. This amazing park covers over 26,000-acre (110 km2)! It's famous for its unique rock formations and beautiful waterfalls. The park is named after Fall Creek Falls, which is 256-foot (78 m) tall. It's the highest waterfall east of the Mississippi River where the water falls freely without hitting the rock face.
Contents
Geography
Park Setting
The Cane Creek Gorge is like a giant cut in the western side of the Cumberland Plateau. It stretches for about 15 miles (24 km)! Cane Creek starts high up on Little Mountain and flows north across the plateau.
As Cane Creek flows, it gets bigger by joining with Meadow Creek and other smaller streams. When it enters the gorge, the creek drops hundreds of feet very quickly. This includes a 45 feet (14 m) drop at Cane Creek Cascades and an 85 feet (26 m) drop at Cane Creek Falls. Not far from Cane Creek Falls, Rockhouse Creek plunges 125 feet (38 m) over a waterfall.
Further along, Cane Creek meets Fall Creek and Piney Creek. Sometimes, part of Cane Creek even disappears underground into holes in the limestone rock. It then reappears at a spring called "Crusher Hole." The creek continues to drop in height until it reaches the Highland Rim, where it flows into the Caney Fork River.
A man-made lake called Fall Creek Falls Lake helps make sure that Fall Creek Falls always has water flowing over it. This lake is a big part of the park's southern area.
Cool Features to See
Amazing Waterfalls
- Fall Creek Falls: This 256-foot (78 m) waterfall is the park's namesake. You can take a short trail from the parking lot down to the bottom of the gorge to see the pool where the water lands.
- Cane Creek Falls: This 85-foot (26 m) waterfall is along Cane Creek. You can see it from the Gorge Trail or from the bottom of the gorge, which you can reach using the Cable Trail.
- Cane Creek Cascades: These are 45-foot (14 m) of flowing water along Cane Creek, just above Cane Creek Falls.
- Rockhouse Falls: This 125-foot (38 m) waterfall is where Rockhouse Creek meets Cane Creek. It shares a pool with Cane Creek Falls and can be seen from the Gorge Trail or the bottom of the gorge.
- Piney Creek Falls: This 95-foot (29 m) waterfall is on Piney Creek. Trails lead to the bottom of the falls and to a viewpoint above them.
- Coon Creek Falls: This 250-foot (76 m) waterfall drops into the Fall Creek Gorge, very close to Fall Creek Falls. It's sometimes hard to notice because Fall Creek Falls is so big!
- Lost Creek Falls: This 60-foot (18 m) waterfall is special because water comes out of a cave above the falls and then disappears from the pool at the bottom.
Awesome Overlooks
- Cane Creek Overlook: This spot, just off the Gorge Trail, gives you a great view of Cane Creek Falls and Rockhouse Falls.
- Cane Creek Gorge Overlook: Also near the Gorge Trail, this overlook lets you see northward across the Cane Creek Gorge.
- Rocky Point Overlook: This viewpoint is on an open cliff along the Gorge Trail, offering another northern view of the Cane Creek Gorge.
- Millikan's Overlook: Located off the road in the Piney Creek area, this spot looks northward across the Cane Creek Gorge, near where Piney Creek and Cane Creek meet.
- Buzzard's Roost: This is a cliff located close to Millikan's Overlook.
- There's also an overlook right next to the Fall Creek Falls parking lot that looks down into the Fall Creek Gorge.
Cool Caves
Fall Creek Falls State Park has the second-most caves of any park in the eastern U.S.! Only Mammoth Cave National Park has more. For now, all park caves are closed to help protect bats from a disease called White Nose Syndrome (WNS).
- Rumbling Falls Cave: This cave has the second-largest cave room in the United States! It's in the park's Dry Fork section, near Spencer.
- Camps Gulf Cave: Another big cave in the park with very large rooms.
- Lost Creek Cave: This cave has five entrances, a waterfall inside, and about 7 miles (11.3 km) of tunnels!
Park History
The land around Cane Creek Gorge wasn't great for farming or mining because the soil was poor and it was hard to get to. In the early 1900s, this part of Van Buren County had only a few farms and no big mining or logging businesses. It was truly a wild area for a long time.
The few people who lived near Cane Creek often faced problems from the creek itself. It was known for sudden floods. The Good Friday Flood of 1929 was one of the worst. It made the Caney Fork River and its smaller streams overflow, destroying many mills, houses, and bridges.
Lawson Fisher, who ran a gristmill (a mill for grinding grain) at Cane Creek Falls during that flood, woke up to the sound of the rising water. He tried to save his mill's account books but had to run out. He later said, "The mill wasn't there. I could just see pieces of planking and timbers going over the falls." The Cane Creek Mill, which had been there since 1831, was never rebuilt.
Becoming a State Park
In 1937, the U.S. government started buying the land around Fall Creek Falls because it was badly worn away. The next year, groups like the Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps began working to restore the forest and build park facilities. The National Park Service gave the park to the State of Tennessee in 1944.
Millikan's Overlook is named after Glenn Allan Millikan, a professor from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He was the son of a Nobel Prize winner, Robert Andrews Millikan. Glenn Millikan sadly died when a rock fell on him while he was rock climbing near the overlook on May 25, 1947.
In 2006, the State of Tennessee bought 12,500 acres (51 km2) more land. This was part of a plan to connect Fall Creek Falls State Park with another area called Scott's Gulf, creating a large protected natural space.
Park Activities and Facilities
Fall Creek Falls State Park is open all year. The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation manages it. The park has cabins, campgrounds, and a snack bar.
There are 30 cabins available for visitors. The park also has 222 campsites in five different areas. All campsites have tables, grills, water, and electricity, and there are six bathhouses for campers to use.
You can also enjoy an 18-hole golf course, a large swimming pool, and many miles of trails for hiking and biking in the park.
Around 2013–2014, the park updated some of its facilities. The cabins were improved, and a zip line was added at the Village Green area.
The Park Inn
The Fall Creek Falls Inn and Conference Center used to have 144 guest rooms and large meeting spaces. It was built in the 1960s and 1970s. However, it was closed in April 2018 and later taken down. The state decided to rebuild it because the old buildings were getting too old.
The new inn is expected to open in late summer or early autumn of 2021. It will have fewer rooms, about 75 to 95, and cost over $40 million to build. The counties nearby were not happy about the long closure because it meant losing money from taxes and jobs for local people.
In the Arts
Artist Gilbert Gaul, famous for his pictures of the Civil War, had a studio near the park. The Gaul's Gallery restaurant at the park's inn was named after him.
Fall Creek Falls State Park has been a filming location for several movies! These include Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, Disney's live-action The Jungle Book, and the comedy film Dr. Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam, starring Jim Varney. Scenes from the 1986 movie King Kong Lives, starring Linda Hamilton, were also filmed near Cane Creek Cascades and Cane Creek Falls.
- Matthews, Larry E., "Caves of Fall Creek Falls", National Speleological Society, October, 2016, 322 pages, ISBN: 978-1-68044-007-2
- Fall Creek Falls State Park at Curlie
