Fall Creek Falls in Tennessee
Water cascades over the falls of Fall Creek Falls past trees and large rock formations at Fall Creek Falls State Park in Tennessee.1
Fall Creek Falls is a waterfall at the center of Fall Creek Falls State Park, which also features other waterfalls as well. The main waterfall (the namesake falls that you can see in the photo above), is 256 feet tall, making it the largest waterfall east of the Rocky Mountains.2
We took a trip to visit several Tennessee Waterfalls for Laura’s birthday. Fall Creek Falls was just one of the falls that we saw. I have lots more photos from our trip that I will be posting, too, which probably surprises no one.
While I took several photos of the falls themselves, I particularly liked this view with the rock formations, even if the trees did partially block the view of the falls. The rocks reminded me a bit of Alum Cave Bluffs in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which we had visited a few years earlier. While I sometimes try to get photos without people in them, I do like having people in this photo because it shows the size of the rocks and the falls.
Hiking at Fall Creek Falls
The state park has a nice lookout near the top of Fall Creek Falls. However, if you are adventurous, you can hike to the bottom of the falls. The only downside is that you have to hike back up. It is a pretty steep descent and climb, but if you can make it, it is definitely worth the view.
As you can see, Laura had hiking poles with her, and I had my own set as well. Once you get over feeling like people think you are old for using poles, the poles do help a good bit with balance and stability. And on several occasions, we heard people passing us say, “We need some poles like that!” One man even offered us money for ours. Maybe he was serious, maybe not. But we kept our poles, because they were quite valuable to us at the time.3
Height and Depth
One thing that often amazes me about some of the places that we go is how high some things are, and how deep some things are. We live in a place that is fairly flat, and we do not get to see all that much change in elevation. So to see a 250 foot waterfall is a pretty big deal. To climb down that distance to the bottom of it is a big deal, too.
To stand on a mountain that looks out over a valley is an impressive thing, as is standing in the valley looking up at the mountain. We have been on high cliffs looking out over the ocean far down below, and we have been closer to the water to see waves crash up much higher than the height of a person.
We have been out at sea when the ship’s captain has announced that the water that we are sailing in is several miles deep. And then we have been sailing in water that was shallow enough to keep the ship from going all the way to the port.
Nature is full of extremes, even if we do not live close to them. There are all sorts of heights and depths. But the Bible tells us that none of those heights and depths can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. And because of God’s love for us, we love one another. Nothing should be able to separate us from that desire to love others, just like nothing can separate us from God’s love for us.
Do not let anything stop you from loving God back, or from loving others, either.
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 8:38-39
About the Photos
The main photo took a little bit of work to get everything seemingly exposed properly. There was quite a bit of variance between the bright sky and sunlit falls and the shade underneath the rocks. I set my camera so that the sky and falls would be exposed properly, knowing it would be easier to brighten the dark areas a bit using the Raw file than it would be to darken the bright areas.
Photo: Each photo is a single Raw exposure, processed in Raw Therapee and GIMP.
Camera: Sony Alpha A7 II
Lens: Sony FE 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS lens
Date: April 13, 2024
Location: Fall Creek Falls State Park, Tennessee
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How many times can you use “fall” or “falls” in one sentence? Is there some sort of SEO warning against such a thing? And how can you avoid it when the park is named Fall Creek Falls, which is also the name of the main waterfall? ↩︎
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Not that I have measured. I will take their word for it. ↩︎
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You can get your own poles at outdoor stores or order them online from Amazon for much less than what that man offered for ours. ↩︎
