Incredible Chasing Waterfalls in Tennessee

Being from Kentucky, we visit our neighbor Tennessee A LOT. It just has so much to offer, much like Kentucky does, and we enjoy hiking and finding waterfalls. I know, I know, we are all thinking of that ONE song… you know, that epic TLC song we all know and love… “Don’t go chasing waterfalls, please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you’re used to.” Ah, a millenial classic! But in this case, we did chase some waterfalls- literally speaking- and it was amazing!!

We have frequented east Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains numerous times (and I’m sure you’ll be seeing several posts about that in the future). This time, we chose central Tennessee and a couple different state parks that we had seen advertised on Pinterest and Tik tok. Our first stop was an adorable little VRBO rental we found- a sweet, little cabin perfectly perched at the top of a beautiful sight-seeing ridge. This place has lots of spectacular summer views from way up high- the cabin itself felt much like a small treehouse. We took our sweet pup, Gemma Roop, with us as she is our adventurous one who loves to hike and play in creek. You can find the cabin we rented for our stay below:

First day of hiking was at South Cumberland State Park, located near Altamont, TN. This place was beautiful and fairly easy to get to via Apple Maps. There are several hiking trails in this area and highly recommend using the AllTrails App for hiking guidance. There seemed to be pretty good amount of signal in this area, but the AllTrails App does have non-wifi capabilities when tracking yourself on hiking trails. (Disclaimer: I am not hired or a paid sponsor speaking on behalf of the AllTrails app, I simply like using it.) We harnessed up Gemma Roop and off we went! The hike was several miles, moderate level hike with several areas of inclines and declines on dirt/rocky paths. Not a hard hike, but if you’re a beginner, I’d recommend taking your time.

There were SEVERAL small waterfalls along the way and a creek ran alongside most of the trail. The bigger falls included Sycamore Falls and Greeter Falls in this area.

The trails were moderately busy but not at all crowded- most people tend to be really courteous and pleasant while hiking, we have found. It was humid and warm, middle of summer in June, so there were many people stopping to jump and swim in the creek at some of the deeper areas. Gemma Roop might or might not have enjoyed taking a dip herself 🙂 We stopped several times to take pictures and relax for a bit and enjoy the scenery. Gemma was an excellent companion and did very well coming up on other dogs with other hikers- needless to say, she got LOTS of extra pets. Spoiled girl HAHA.

All in all on Day 1 of this trip, we probably encountered 4 small waterfalls and 1 taller waterfall. It was a great day for sure! We were good and tired by the end of the day and was cozy in our small cabin. By the next day, we were ready to check out and head to our other destination: Rock Island State Park! But first, BREAKFAST. We stopped at this adorable and popular breakfast place called Cumberland Biscuit Company, located in McMinnville, TN. It was superb and well worth the wait!

Rock Island State Park was just absolutely breathtaking. We, again, encountered several waterfalls- mainly Rock Island and Burgess falls, and this place was extremely popular for swimmers and lake-goers. Many kayakers, swimmers, canoers…you name it. Very recreational area and we highly recommend for family trips! These falls were so big and ethereal, they didn’t even seem real. I will let the photos speak for themselves…

This was just a small weekend hiking trip, but one that will forever be remembered as one of the top waterfall trips to date! And yes, we will still be chasing waterfalls.

Until next time, my busy bees! Caio!

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