Burgess Falls State Park — Attraction in Cookeville

Today was such a beautiful day that we felt like we had to get out. We set out for drive looking for something to do. We got into Sparta and saw a sign for Burgess falls. We had never been there so we went to check it out. Its a nice drive to get in to the park, Once there there are nice restrooms and a place to re-fill your water bottle. We walked down to the trail. It splits left and right. We went right at first and it takes you to large dam with several spill ways that were roaring when we got there. This is only a 5 or 10 minute hike. Then we headed in the opposite direction and followed the river to what is called middle falls. Its very impressive. One of those wide and short stepping kind of waterfalls. The trail is signed and moderately strenuous, but to this point it is fairly easy. There are a lot of rocks and roots so I would not recommend this for people with mobility concerns. We moved on from the middle falls after enjoying it for several minutes and continued to follow the river. We saw the remains of a bridge/pipeline that were still suspended above the river. There is signage there to explain it further. Further down we came to the strenuous part. There are stairs cut into the hill that go up steeply for quite a ways. They are made of stone block for the most part. The stairs are a bigger step up than your normal stairs so it makes you stretch a little. We then made it to the main attraction, the main falls. The main falls is listed as 136 feet high and it is really impressive. It is also really loud. We spent a lot of time here taking it in and taking photos. You could also watch the turkey vultures riding the thermals above the falls. As we were walking out we ran into the Park Ranger who gave us a little more detail on the park. He also pointed us to the Ridge trail. Its on the right as you leave the falls and take the road back to the parking lot. Its a short but worth it diversion. It takes you to a couple of high view points where you can look down into the river gorge. Beautiful views. One thing I like about this park is that there is a good road all the way down to the main falls so if you are mobility challenged you can still enjoy the road and the falls. I would guess the road is 1/4 to 1/2 mile long. It is not paved but it is flat and easy to traverse. I highly recommend a visit...

This was a fun adventure with beautiful views. There are two paths to choose from - the trail along the cliff and the service road. The trail is nice with wooden hand rails in some areas. It has beautiful views. There are wooden bridges and scenic spots that are great backdrops for pictures. It is bathed in shade. It also has steps without handrails as you are walking through the woods. I am currently recovering from a knee injury so the stairs were too challenging for me. I opted for the service road by myself while my family walked along the trail. This meant aprox. 3 steep hills along a 3/4th mile rough paved road with flat sections in between. It was nice and shady on the edges. It rained on the way down, and before we arrived. I was surprised that I didn't get very wet because of the protection from the trees. Also, the road was not slick with the shoes I was wearing, so I had no problems with that. That being said, there are no handrails along the service road. The steepness should have made me turn back, but I pushed onwards. I am stubborn like that. I had to walk holding a hand on the way down for safety. If you are fit, you would likely have no problems. If you are out of shape or have a leg injury, this will be a hard walk. At the top, there are wooden rough steps leading down to the last set of falls. There are not handrails going down the whole way, so I had to wait for a hand for support. There is then a platform for viewing and the view is amazing. Yes, it was a hard climb for me, but it...

When I was searching info on Cummins Falls I saw several people comment that Burgess Falls was an easier hike and just as pretty. Its definitely the easier of the two. Total trail length is roughly 2 miles. There are some stairs and they are uneven and not the easiest stairs but overall the trail is definitely rated easy and that would be correct. You will pass three waterfalls as well as some small cascades near the trailhead. All are very pretty! When you get to the Burgess Falls overlook there is a side spur that takes you down to the top of the Burgess Falls. This extra portion is worth doing. Its a little steeper than the rest but you can put your feet in the river at the end of this spur and there are a plethora of lovely flat river rocks to sun on or to picnic on. Remember, this is a carry in, carry out park! Take your trash with you! Plenty of folks were swimming and wading at the trailhead. Bathrooms were available at the trailhead parking. There is also a covered picnic pavilion here if you dont want the sun or to carry your food in. The parking lots are on the small side at Burgess but the good news is,people are coming and going constantly, so with a couple circles of the lot you should be able to get a spot. Water shoes are recommended if you plan to wade at trailhead, however, I dont recommend hiking the trail in them...just grab them out of your car for swim time. Burgess is free...but there is no access to the base of the falls unless you kayak in via a...