Attending the SEFTC (Southeaster Foot Trails Coalition) , I traveled to a state park in central Tennessee I'd never heard of, Fall Creek Falls State Park. As state parks go, this place is top notch. It was once considered as a national park.
The main attraction is Fall Creek Falls, below. The highest free fall waterfall east of the Mississippi River. The sedimentary sandstone layers of the Cumberland Plateau are perfectly suited to construct waterfalls. Sandstone erodes more easily than other rock. Limestone layers erode even easier. This sets up the perfect place for waterfalls and caves. I am told this park has a more extensive cave system than anywhere else in the US except Mammoth Cave National Park. Some of the caves were unknown to the park staff until they were threatened to be flooded by a nearby town's waste water. Suddenly, the local caving community revealed the secrets to have the caves protected. One of these is a spectacular cave with a huge underground room.
Originally, the land was purchased by the Interior Department with the intent to give it to the state of Tennessee. There was an attempt to have it considered for inclusion in the National Park system but the inspecting team visited in summer when the waterfalls were dry or so the story goes.
Now the state park has all types of camping from backcountry to full hookups, There is a lodge on the lake with conference center. There are group lodges both small and large. There is a store, snack bar, restaurant, boat docks, a nature center and at least 3 cable bridges. I understand the cable bridges and falls were used in scenes from the movies Jungle Book and King Kong Lives.
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