Picture this - It's the first weekend of November in your new city. You're closer than ever to state parks with plentiful options for hiking and to see waterfalls up close. You're taking every opportunity you have on the weekends to get out and explore with the love of your life. Life is as perfect and wonderful as it's been in a long time.
Welcome to the blog post outlining one of the best days I've had this year. My husband and I drove two hours west from Knoxville last Saturday to visit Rock Island State Park, and then, on a whim, we added a stop and went to Burgess Falls State Park before heading back to our new home. The fall colors were slightly past peak, but it was still such a fun and beautiful day to opt outside!
If you're someone who enjoys the great outdoors and just spending time in nature looking at places that take your breath away, East Tennessee is a great place to be - whether you live here or you're just passing through.
I used to foolishly think that state parks were mediocre and not worth visiting in comparison to national parks. When we moved to Texas in 2020 and started exploring nearby state parks, I swiftly realized how wrong my original assumption was. I am so glad I learned differently because every park I have been to, whether on the state or national level, has had something different (+ wonderful) to offer to me.
When we got the opportunity to move from West Tennessee to East Tennessee, we leapt at the chance. I am a girl who loves the mountains. I love to spend my free time outside, hiking trails, taking pictures, and just appreciating the beauty of the world. I love the few hours where I lose service and really get to connect with the people I happen to be with -- usually, it's my husband, sometimes it's my Mom, sometimes it's my sister or friends. No matter whom I am with when I am outside, those memories and those days always become some of my favorites.
Tip: Before entering a state park, I always download the offline map of the area on Google Maps. I also scope out which hikes I would like to do, I find them on AllTrails, and I download the offline content beforehand. This saves us a lot of time when we're exploring because we have access to directions and can find our way if we end up lost.
When we got to Rock Island State Park, we stopped at a scenic overlook to get a few shots of Great Falls. More than 100 years ago, Great Falls powered a 19th century cotton textile mill. Great Falls is a 30-foot waterfall that is incredibly stunning and definitely worth a stop.
When we finished there, we headed to Twin Falls, located at the end of Powerhouse Road, where we hiked the Twin Falls and Downstream Trail (1.7 mile out-and-back trail). Note: swimming at the base of Twin Falls is prohibited.
The falls are the main attraction and are at the very beginning of the trail. We still went ahead and hiked the entirety of the trail. The trail was easy and follows along the river, but it did have some narrower sections. I would just watch where you step because there are a lot of tree roots, and if you're hiking when there are a lot of leaves on the ground like we were, you'll want to be especially careful.
Rock Island is free to visit and is open year round. The Caney Fork River Gorge section of the park (the area between Great Falls Dam and the TVA Power House) can close when the dam is actively releasing water, so if you plan to visit that area, you'll want to check the status. There are two hiking trails in this area-Old Mill Gorge Trail & Upstream Trail; each trail is 1.0 mile.
When we finished our hike, it was still decently early in the day. Burgess Falls State Park was only about a 30 minute drive north from where we were, and we both felt up for about one more hike. We decided to go, and we are so glad we did!
We hiked the River Trail to Ridgetop Trail (1.4 mi out-and-back). Some portions of this trail were incredibly steep, so I would classify it as moderate. We passed three stunning waterfalls along the Falling Water River - First Falls, Middle Falls, and Burgess Falls. AllTrails and the trail description on Burgess Falls State Park's website both say that you'll pass four waterfalls along the trail, but we only counted three. If you read other people's reviews on AllTrails, they all also only mention seeing 3 waterfalls, but hey-3 is still quite a number, and they are all beautiful! The "lollipop" section of the trail is just a quaint walk in the woods, but we did encounter a very nice man and his dog who told us we make a beautiful couple and to always continue exploring together because life's too short to be lonely- good advice, if I do say so myself.
Unlike at Twin Falls, you've got to work to get to the main attraction here, and the hike is absolutely worth it. Burgess Falls is a 130-foot waterfall cascading into a gorge.
Notes: Burgess Falls State Park is also free to visit and is open year round as well. The parking is very limited at this state park - we got super lucky and were able to find a spot! If you want to access the bottom of Burgess Falls, you'll have to kayak or canoe from Cane Hollow Recreation area! (Trust me, this is now on our Tennessee bucket list)!
Please always remember to follow the 7 principles of leave no trace when exploring the great outdoors. Always bring enough water and salty snacks help to replenish electrolytes when you are hiking - we personally like to hike with beef jerky. We also usually hike with polarized sunglasses, sun protection clothing, and sturdy hiking boots or trail shoes. We frequent REI for our outdoors gear! Happy Hiking! Let me know where we should explore next!
Comments