Sunday, May 26, 2013

Virgin Falls

Date: 5/26/13
Distance: 10-11

I was driving back from Nashville and decided to take a side trip to Virgin Falls State Park and hike the Virgin Falls Trail.  It was a beautiful sunny day, but the majority of the trail is under the tree canopy which provided plenty of shade.  There were a total of 4 waterfalls and a nice overlook, so this hike has some WOW factor to it.  The 1st waterfall was the smallest, but it was a nice prelude to the big ones that were to come.

The picture doesn't do it justice.  It was about 20' tall and on this day, had a nice volume of water rushing over it.

The second water fall was larger with a cave behind it.  The water at the bottom of the falls flows into the cave.
Continuing along the trail eventually you reach a loop. The trail has the shape of a lollipop.  I took the right side of the loop and encountered the 3rd waterfall.  This one flows out of a cave at the top and disappears into a cave at the bottom.
I climbed on up the trail looking for the "Sheep Cave".  Eventually the trail ran out and I didn't really find it.  Since I was alone and the trail was faint, I turned back.

Continuing around the loop, I came to the star of the show.  Virgin Falls is the largest of the falls.  It has a side trail that takes you to the top of the falls.  From this trail, I got a few nice shots of the falls through the woods.


At the top the falls there was lots of white water.

On the way out, I took the spur out to the Overlook.  The view was nice, so it was worth the extra 1 mile and the climb up the mountain.  At one point there is a wooden ladder that you must climb.

The hike was not easy.  There is a large elevation loss on the way to the falls.  I didn't realize how far down I'd gone, until I started climbing out after hiking 8 miles.  The climb was tiresome.

I spent about 5 hours on the hike including my time admiring the various waterfalls.  It was a nice day in the woods.

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