Burgess Falls State Park is a
state park
State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...
and state natural area in
Putnam County and
White County, Tennessee
White County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, the population was 25,841. Its county seat is Sparta.
History
On September 11, 1806, an act of the Tennessee General Assembly created White County out o ...
, located in the southeastern United States. The park is situated around a steep gorge in which the
Falling Water River
The Falling Water River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 8, 2011 stream in the east-central portion of Middle Tennessee in the United States. It rises just west ...
drops in elevation in less than a mile, culminating in a
cataract waterfall.
The Burgess Falls State Natural Area, which covers , is managed by the
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) is a Cabinet-level agency within the government of the U.S. state of Tennessee, headed by the Tennessee Commissioner of Environment and Conservation.
The Department of Conservation ...
.
Geography
The Falling Water River rises near the base of the Cumberland Plateau in eastern Putnam County and winds its way across the
Highland Rim
The Highland Rim is a geographic term for the area in Tennessee surrounding the Central Basin. Nashville is largely surrounded by higher terrain in all directions.
Geologically, the Central Basin is a dome. The Highland Rim is a cuesta surround ...
to its mouth along the
Center Hill Lake
Center Hill Lake is a reservoir in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is located in Middle Tennessee near Smithville. Created by means of a dam constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1948, the lake has a dual purpose: electricity produc ...
impoundment of the
Caney Fork
The Caney Fork River is a river that flows through central Tennessee in the United States, draining a substantial portion of the southwestern Cumberland Plateau and southeastern Highland Rim regions. It is a major tributary of the Cumberland River ...
, which is located in an area where the Highland Rim drops off into the
Central Basin. The Burgess Falls State Natural Area comprises the section of the river just above its mouth, where the river drops from roughly atop the Highland Rim to just over at Center Hill Lake.
Over a long period of time, the Falling Water River's rapids have cut a deep gorge just above its mouth. The river drops to the Central Basin in a series of cascades and waterfalls, each gaining in size and intensity as the river approaches Center Hill Lake. At the Falling Water Cascades, located just downstream from the old Burgess Falls Dam, the river gradually spills over a embankment of rocks. Almost immediately downstream from the Cascades, the river drops another at Little Falls. Beyond Little Falls, where the river briefly bends to the north, is an cascade known as Middle Falls. Downstream from Middle Falls, where the river bends westward again, is the
Burgess Falls. The distance between Falling Water Cascades and Burgess Falls is less than a mile. Burgess Falls spills into a large limestone gorge enclosed by sheer walls high. The Falling Water River enters Center Hill Lake downstream from Burgess Falls.
History
Burgess Falls is named after Tom Burgess, a
Revolutionary War veteran who settled along this section of the Falling Water River in the 1810s. The Burgess family used the river's rapids to power a
grist mill
A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...
and eventually a saw mill which supplied early settlers with corn meal and lumber.
[Robert Brandt, ''Touring the Middle Tennessee Backroads'' (Winston-Salem, N.C.: John F. Blair, 1995), 368-370.]
In 1924, the City of
Cookeville built an earthen dam along the river a mile or so upstream from Burgess Falls. After a flood destroyed the dam in 1928, the city replaced it with a concrete dam that provided the area with electricity until the arrival of the
Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolina ...
in 1944. Due in large part to calls from Cookevillians to protect the area, Burgess Falls State Park was established in 1971.
Part of a pipeline bridge still spans the river in the vicinity of Little Falls. The pipeline originally crossed the river into a tunnel on the north walls of the gorge and emerged to cross the river again near Middle Falls en route to a powerhouse.
Access
The entrance to Burgess Falls State Park is located just off Tennessee State Route 135 roughly halfway between Cookeville and Sparta. The park is open year-round, but is closed on days of high precipitation due to the Falling Water River's volatility.
A loop trail follows the bluffs along the south bank of the gorge, starting at Falling Water Cascades and ending at a platform overlooking
Burgess Falls. Little Falls and Middle Falls are also visible from the trail. A stairway leads down to the top of Burgess Falls. The platforms which supported the flume are still visible and once supported stairs to access the bottom of the falls, however due to recent flooding the stairs have been removed. There is no access to the bottom of Burgess Falls from the main park. A second loop trail follows the ridgeline southwest of Burgess Falls.
The Burgess Falls State Natural Area includes Burgess Falls Lake and part of the forest on the both sides of the river in the lake's vicinity.
See also
*
Cummins Falls State Park
Cummins Falls State Park is a state park located northwest of Cookeville in Jackson County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Its namesake, Cummins Falls, is a waterfall, which is located on the Blackburn Fork State Scenic River. The park was ...
*
Ozone Falls State Natural Area
References
External links
Burgess Falls State Parkofficial website
Friends of Burgess Falls
{{authority control
State parks of Tennessee
Protected areas of Putnam County, Tennessee
Protected areas of White County, Tennessee
Waterfalls of Tennessee
Landforms of Putnam County, Tennessee
Landforms of White County, Tennessee