Day trip to the Falls!

March 20, 2009 at 6:39 PM (General) (Adornments, Cane Creek Cascade, Fall Creek Falls, hiking in TN, Spencer TN, Tennessee State Park)

The other day my husband, two of his sisters, and I (Alexis) took a day trip to Fall Creek Falls State Park. A bit of an avid hiker, Abdul has been after us to go hiking somewhere for the past six months, and Fall Creek Falls, only a 2ish hour drive away in Spencer, TN, was the perfect solution (especially since the rest of us aren’t exactly capable of any week long serious mountain hikes at the moment..)

If you haven’t been there, and enjoy the outdoors, waterfalls, hiking, or even leisurely walking in pretty places- this place is definitely worth visisting!  If you want to take it easy, you can pull your car right up near the top of the main falls, and walk about 1 minute to the overlook, then you can decide if you’re up for the not too terrible hike to the base for an upclose (and wet!) look. But no, this would not do for us!! Bring on the 3ish mile hike- we want to see ALL the falls, get all the great views, feel the burn and all that!!

Cane Creek Cascades

So, from the Nature Center, the first falls you’re likely to see when doing the full hike is cane Creek Cascades.

From here you get to cross an old fashioned swing bridge that crosses directly over the Cascade! The bridge is pretty exciting (though Abdul’s sisters found it somewhat terrifying!!) as it moves while you’re crossing it or anytime someone else steps on it. It also has a limit of 6 people at a time!!

The Swing Bridge!

No worries, no one died in the making of this hike!  And the girls were able to put on a brave face when they reached the middle of the bridge for a picture. 🙂

Halfway across the Cane Creek Cascade!

 There are several places to go off the main path along the hike to get a different view of the three falls and the gorge. After some minor rock climbing we got down to this point where the earth just falls away- it’s a spectacular view! Just don’t stand too close to the edge!!

Alexis at the Rocky Overlook

After about a mile and a half of hiking, and lots of little side trips,  you reach the place where you realize you could have just driven here and gotten out of the car (why? oh why didn’t we at least bring some water with us? Doh!)…  But that of course, is for pansies!!

This is the main falls!

Fall Creek Falls Overlook

From this overlook you can down to the bottom of the gorge for a real upclose and personal view. Of course, we decided we really wanted to go off the beaten path at this point and play by the river!

Off the beaten path!

Just so you know.. as perfect as this route looks, we decided at this point that perhaps we’d best go back to the path after all… 😉 And as much as I love my husband it was sooo hard not to hop on the end of that log and start jumping! Heehee!!

The foot of the falls!

Ahh, a nice damp spot for romance!! Everything was dripping!

Me and my husband at Fall Creek Falls!

The girls at the bottom of Fall Creek Falls

That’s right- bring a rain jacket!!

The trip back to the car was really quite quick compared to the slow wandering trek out, which was good since our legs were turning into jelly and we were all in need of some lunch!

As soon as we reached the car we started grazing on all our car snacks- sweet, sweet chocolate covered pomegranates (our new addiction) !!!

In all, I highly recommend Fall Creek Falls State Park, and now is a perfect time to go (no bugs!!!) though I imagine fall is insanely beautiful there!