Less than an hour south of Cookeville, Tennessee lies the tallest free-falling waterfall east of the Mississippi River. This is Fall Creek Falls.
Housed within the beautiful state park of the same name, Fall Creek Falls drops an impressive 256 feet into the Cane Creek Gorge, a 15-mile gash in the western edge of the Cumberland Plateau running from the Cane Creek Cascades to Cane Creek’s mouth along the Caney Fork River.
The falls’ overlook provides a breathtaking view as churning water drops west of a prominent Cane Creek confluence. But it is the journey down into the gorge that proves truly spectacular.
Both are a short walk from their parking area, amid 30,000 acres of some of the most stunning portions of the Cumberland Plateau protected by the park.
Here, 56 miles of trails, cascades, gorges, waterfalls, streams and lush virgin hardwood timber provide one of Tennessee’s most immersive natural havens, both for visitors and native wildlife.
The protection of this natural wonder began in 1937, with The National Park Service transferring ownership to the State of Tennessee in 1944. In 2022, TennGreen Land Conservancy, The Nature Conservancy, and The Conservation Fund jointly acquired 838 acres on the western side of Fall Creek Falls, expanding the state park through the Open Space Institute’s Appalachian Landscapes Protection Fund and the Lyndhurst Foundation.
This expansion protects critical wild corridors surrounding Fall Creek Falls in perpetuity, further safeguarding one of Tennessee’s most incredible regions for generations to come.
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