Piney Creek Falls

Falls Creek Falls State Resort Park / Spencer, Tennessee, USA

About Piney Creek Falls


Hiking Distance: almost roadside
Suggested Time:

Date first visited: 2012-10-25
Date last visited: 2012-10-25

Waterfall Latitude: 35.67309
Waterfall Longitude: -85.3842

Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

Piney Creek Falls (also known as just Piney Falls) is somewhat of a hidden 95ft waterfall tucked away off the one-way Gorge Scenic Drive Motor Nature Trail.

While most of the waterfalling action occurs in Cane Creek Gorge within proximity of the Betty Dunn Nature Center in Falls Creek Falls State Park, this waterfall tumbles on Piney Creek, which is not within the Cane Creek Gorge.

Falls_Creek_Falls_068_20121025 - Piney Creek Falls
Piney Creek Falls

We were able to take a short trail from the parking area to an overlook of the Pine Creek Falls.

The overlook was on an outcrop where we were able to glimpse the falls between some trees.

It was somewhat of an overgrown viewpoint, but on the day we visited, most of the falls could be seen from here.

There was also a separate trail leading to a suspension bridge over Piney Creek.

This trail actually passed a bit closer to Piney Creek Falls than the overlook, but the view was totally blocked.

Falls_Creek_Falls_076_20121025 - The swinging bridge over Piney Creek, but it didn't improve the views for Piney Creek Falls
The swinging bridge over Piney Creek, but it didn’t improve the views for Piney Creek Falls

There was also a barricade there discouraging any attempts to access the base of the Piney Creek Falls.

We didn’t go beyond the suspension bridge so we can’t say much about where the rest of the trail went.

And neither did we attempt to go to the bottom of Piney Falls, because I don’t think accessing the bottom of Piney Falls was safely doable from what we could tell.

Authorities

Piney Creek Falls resides in Falls Creek Falls State Resort Park near Pikeville in Van Buren County and Bledsoe County, Tennessee. It is administered by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website.

Falls_Creek_Falls_057_20121025 - Trails for both the Piney Creek Falls and the suspension bridge going their separate ways
Falls_Creek_Falls_059_20121025 - The rocky outcrop for the Piney Creek Falls overlook
Falls_Creek_Falls_071_20121025 - Zoomed in on the hard-to-see Piney Creek Falls from the overlook
Falls_Creek_Falls_072_20121025 - Context of the Piney Creek Falls as seen from the overlook
Falls_Creek_Falls_073_20121025 - Julie checking out the Piney Creek Falls from the overlook
Falls_Creek_Falls_074_20121025 - The Suspension Bridge trail led past this obstructed view of Piney Falls
Falls_Creek_Falls_075_20121025 - Maybe this fence was erected to prevent people from trying to access the Piney Creek Falls' base or at least try to improve the closer view of it
Falls_Creek_Falls_077_20121025 - Looking over the suspension bridge traversing Piney Creek though we opted not to cross it since it didn't improve the view of Piney Creek Falls


See the Falls Creek Falls page for directions on getting to the Falls Creek Falls Overlook.

From there, we continued on the one-way counterclockwise loop road for another 2.6 miles to a three-way intersection, passing by a handful of overlooks of Cane Creek Gorge.

Falls_Creek_Falls_051_20121025 - This was the view of the Cane Creek Gorge, which was along the one-way counterclockwise loop leading from Falls Creek Falls to the parking for Piney Creek Falls
This was the view of the Cane Creek Gorge, which was along the one-way counterclockwise loop leading from Falls Creek Falls to the parking for Piney Creek Falls

Turning right at the intersection, we then drove 0.3 miles to its end where there was a cul-de-sac for parking.

For context, the main town neighboring Falls Creek Falls State Resort Park was Spencer, which was 31 miles (over 30 minutes drive) south of Cookeville, 68 miles (over an hour drive) north of Chattanooga and 21 miles (30 minutes drive) east of McMinnville, where we had overnighted after making our visit to Falls Creek Falls State Resort Park.

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Fixated on Piney Falls


Zoomed in on Piney Falls before slowly zooming out to show its context


Looking down through foliage towards obstructed views of the Piney Falls on the trail to the suspension bridge

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Tagged with: falls creek falls, state resort park, van buren, bledsoe, tennessee, waterfall, spencer, pikeville, cane creek, piney creek, cane creek gorge



Visitor Comments:

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May 2021 Update May 9, 2021 8:56 am by John Perrone - We hiked Piney Creek Falls this month and found a way to some fantastic views at the top of the falls. If you go over the suspension bridge and turn right, there's an unmarked but discernible trail that travels along Piney Creek. After about a tenth of a mile, it appears to dead end with… ...Read More

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