• Location: Burgess Falls State Natural Area; 11 miles northwest of Sparta, TN
• Access: From 70S in Sparta, head west on 70 4.9 mi, then turn north on 136 (Old Kentucky Rd) for 4.3 mi, then turn left at Baxter Crossing (4-way stop) on 135 (Burgess Falls Rd) and follow it 3.3 miles to the entrance to Burgess Falls SNA on the left. From there, it’s another 0.3 mi to the TH.
• Map: USGS Burgess Falls quad
• Trailhead: UTM NAD83 zone16 626543e 3989735n
• Trail: The River Trail is wide and well-marked as it leads past 3 falls of increasing size on the Falling Water River, then down a metal staircase to the bottom of the 3rd falls. It’s 0.9 miles to the bottom of the 3rd falls, one-way, and a return trip along the Ridge Trail and gravel road is 1.0 miles, and also well-marked. Both trails are easy walks. 
• Dogs: Allowed on leash
• Fees: None
• Weather: Local forecast

June 16, 2010

Mike was visiting from Texas, so I took the day off and we decided to go hiking at Burgess Falls since it was relatively close. Well, perhaps as a crow flies, or a knowledgeable driver drives, but since we didn’t really know where we were going, it took us about 45 minutes longer than it should’ve, courtesy of multiple wrong turns. The driving debacle resulted in me purchasing a Tennessee gazateer less than 6 hours after we finished the hike, so I hope to avoid another such driving frustration. After a lengthy drive, multiple backtracks and a short conversation with the White County sheriff, we finally made it to Burgess Falls State Park around 9:30. As this was our first real hike with Ada in tow, the preparation took a little bit longer than usual, and we didn’t actually leave the parking lot until around 9:50. 

The morning was cloudy, and although very humid, it was not too hot. We strolled down the trail, had a quick conversation with the park ranger on the fishing options in the park and made our way west along the river, admiring the falls along the way from several lookout platforms. The trail was wide, with little chance of getting turned-around, and we walked along in comfort in the cool shade of giant beech, oak, hemlock and tulip poplar trees. The understory of the thick forest contained many ferns, including an abundance of graceful, delicate Adiantum species and lots of Selaginella, but unfortunately was principally dominated by my least favorite forb, Toxicodendron radicans, poison ivy, whose abundance invited me to stay strictly on-trail. I continued on, scratching the poison ivy rash on my wrist from a recent encounter. Evil plant, that. 

We reached the final overlook, and it was extremely impressive. The deep bass roar of Burgess Falls opened up into a full spectrum of white noise as we reached the rail to look down on it. Water from the river drops 136’ in a wide cascade to a pool below. From the overlook, a trail leads steeply down to the top of the falls, and then utilizes a metal staircase to continue to the base of the falls. As we dropped below the level of the falls, a cool water mist sprayed out, and was very welcome on such a warm day! We continued to the bottom of the falls, then walked along the river to a wider pool where Mike and I fished some. Andra and Ada relaxed in the shade along an informal trail leading to the old powerhouse while I took pictures and Mike fished downstream. We saw a 3’ gar in the shallow water, but aside from one small perch, neither of us hooked anything very interesting. After a bit (kind of lost track of time), we packed up and headed up the hill. Ada fell asleep in her carrier almost instantly…guess it was the white noise from the falls. At the overlook, we opted to return via the Ridge Trail, which ran a bit south of the River Trail through dense forest before rejoining the gravel road that lead back to the parking lot, which we reached around 12:30.