(Pikeville TN)
Continuing my trek in Tennessee I went to Fall Creek Falls State Park about two hours away. It was a pleasant drive up winding rural mountain roads to a very impressive large park. After a couple of attempts, I found a site that was level enough to not need pads. Points of interest were pretty spread out, so I planned to drive to some of them.
Tardis at Fall Creek Falls State Park
The next morning I hiked over to the Cane Creek Falls area, in hopes of taking the ranger guided hike to the other falls. It turned out to be very hot and way too many tourists for my liking. So, I hung around to see a demonstration at the Nature Center of authentic mountain music. That ended up being cancelled because some older lady had a medical emergency that the rangers had to attend to. Oh, well.
Cane Creek
I did get some photos of Cane Creek Falls and rapids. But, again there were families reveling in the waters despite advisories from the staff to only swim in designated areas. I got the impression that it was common for summer campers to ignore the warnings. The hike back to my site, on the very hilly road in the heat, was enough for me that day.
Cane Creek Falls
Because of the distance, I decided to visit the other falls on my way out in the morning to avoid the crowds. There was a nice paved nature drive to the overlooks. It was a good choice as I was the only one at them; and it was cooler too. The light wasn’t ideal for photos but that was OK.
Fall Creek Falls
Fall Creek Falls is supposed to be the tallest waterfall in the east with a 256 feet drop. It’s a magnificent fall over a rock cliff. There’s a trail to the bottom, but I wasn’t up to it, and it was already getting hot and muggy.
Piney Creek Falls
Another short drive took me to Piney Creek Falls which is across a ravine and a bit hard to see. The plaque said the gorge had never had trees cut because it was so rugged. There was a trail to a swinging bridge across that may have provided a better view. But, after hiking the trail for a ways, and still seeing no sign of it, I turned around and went back to the comfort of Tardis.
I traveled about an hour across a nice country road through rolling hills to my next stop at Cumberland Mountain State Park. My cousin with her husband came out and took me to dinner at a restaurant in the park that is famous for their southern style meals. It was Friday night, so of course they had catfish and all the fix-ins’; I had cole slaw, greens, stewed apples, cornbread and iced tea with my fish. For dessert it was banana pudding of course. Yummy!
Kerrigan Gap
In the morning, I headed over to their daughter’s place out in the hills, where they had a nice level concrete pad for me to park on. I was able to wash Tardis which was really needed. Three days visiting, catching up on family news, eating some great food and enjoying some country living was a wonderful pause in my travels.
Camp: Fall Creek Falls SP, Cumberland Mountain SP
Scene: Forest, mountains, creeks, waterfalls
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