What’s better than one waterfall? Two waterfall hikes in one day! Here’s two waterfalls you can easily hike to in one day. Both of these waterfalls are a part of the large South Cumberland State Park in Tennessee. They are just over an hour drive outside of Chattanooga in the Central Time Zone. This was my first time out here and I have a lot to share with you about it.
Foster Falls
First stop on our two waterfalls in one day adventure is Foster Falls. It is easy to find via google maps, which I highly recommend using because it’s easy to miss as there’s no large welcoming signs. Parking is typically plentiful but I suggest going early on a week day to avoid any crowds. I will be sharing a YouTube video later that shows the crowds on a Saturday morning vs a Friday morning two weeks later. The hike down to the falls is only .4 of a mile and before you descend you can go to a little overlook platform and see the waterfall from a bird’s eye view. This overlook is a short flat walk from the parking lot. Once you begin the hike down to the falls though, things get steep and rocky. All in all, compared to all the waterfall hikes I’ve done so far, this one is my favorite. It’s not as reassuringly safe feeling as Cloudland Canyon’s stairs, but it feels shorter and not as exhausting. There’s no dangerously large steps and the rocks are sturdy making for the perfect natural staircase down. I watched many small children make it to the bottom no problem if that gives you a better idea how daunting it may look but really isn’t. At the bottom there’s a small suspension bridge over the creek to the other side where you can walk right into the water at the base of the falls. Of course the water is freezing so it’s the perfect cool-off on a hot day.
Another unique thing about this location is it’s the only place in the South Cumberland Park that offers camping amenities. There’s no water or electric hookups but there’s restrooms and heated showers. The rest of the park only offers backpack camping sites with no restrooms or showers. Reservations are required so keep this in mind. I hope to camp here one day and share my experience then.
Greeter Falls
The second waterfall on our two waterfalls in one day adventure is Greeter Falls which is a thirty minute drive north from Foster Falls. Since we went here second, we found that it was more crowded than Foster Falls because it was afternoon by this time. Then again, the pandemic might have something to do with the crowds but I can say that the parking lot was full along with the very long driveway up to the parking lot. This location has numerous trails and sights to see so I will share what we did and what we haven’t yet explored.
We went first down to the falls which is a .8 of a mile hike. At first it’s easy, just follow all the signs leading to the base of the falls. I say this because of all the trail intersections and options. It starts out fairly flat and wide, then slowly descends large rock steps, still not steep. But things get extremely dangerous if you’re not careful when you reach the spiral staircase down to the falls. It’s a double spiral staircase and it’s always dripping wet. And everything below the staircase is dripping wet and muddy as well as water is constantly running off the bluff that borders the rest of the trail down. There’s signs of erosion that separate the hand rail from the mud covered earth stairs and the wooden stairs at the bottom are soggy as well. It ends with a sliding rock, which you can choose to carefully slide down to the bottom and then continue to the water that way, or use the stair posts as fulcrums to swing yourself to either side of the sliding rock from where you can then descend more rocks to the bottom.
Long story short, this hike starts out very deceivingly easy and then can turn into a nightmare if you’re not prepared. I highly recommend wearing good shoes to keep yourself from falling on the slippery rocks and mud. But if you use good caution, you will be able to make it down and back up no problem. I’m very clumsy and I never fell because I went slow and used caution so you can too. Again, I saw many kids down here so it is very doable.
I didn’t have a chance to get in the water at the base of the falls because it was so crowded. But when you hike back up to the top of the stairs you can take a short trail that leads to the top of the falls. We did this and found that the further up and back you go, the less crowded it was. There’s smaller cascading waterfalls just above with short pools of water headed towards the big falls. This is where I go in the water to cool off some. Of course I only waded in it as the water was only a foot and a half high, but it was still fun and refreshing.
As we headed back, we were tired after our long day of waterfall hiking and enjoyed some snacks at the nearby picnic tables. We missed out on a few other trails that I’m looking forward to exploring one day. One is the short there-and-back trail that leads to the Greeter Homeplace. I don’t know much about this but it’s told that it was occupied in the 1800s to early 1900s. Then there’s the Boardtree Falls Trail to another small waterfall. And the last trail I want to check out is to the right when you first walk in from the parking lot. The waterfalls are to the left but to the right is a swimming hole. The Blue Hole Trail is only a half mile hike. I don’t know anything more about it though because I have yet to check it out.
The Dutch Maid Bakery and Cafe
I cannot forget to mention our halfway stop during the two waterfalls in one day adventure that was in Tracy City. The Dutch Maid Bakery and Cafe was my afternoon coffee stop and I was impressed to find such a place. Turns out it’s the oldest family-owned bakery in Tennessee dating back to 1902. Today the legacy is kept alive as they continue to make all the baked sweets and goodies by hand and have a cafe as well. If you decide to try out my two waterfalls in one day adventure, I highly recommend you make this your pit stop halfway through the trip. Check out my video tomorrow to see this place.
I’m looking forward to exploring the South Cumberland State Park more and will share my findings with you later on. Until then, let me know in the comments below if you’ve been to either of these falls and what your thoughts are about them. And is there some other waterfall you like better, if so where?
Thanks for exploring with me!
~Amanda
To watch the video of this day click HERE.