Nashville native, Sam Moxley, shares his favorite pocket of wilderness just outside of the city. In his adventure story you’ll follow with Sam and his buddies along a trail in Virgin Falls, crossing creeks and exploring caves and waterfalls.
As a Nashville native I’m lucky in that there are tons of different outdoor activities ranging from hikes in the Warner Parks or Radnor Lake to kayaking down the Harpeth. Despite all of these opportunities, if I want to do something more adventurous I have to travel a few hours outside of Nashville. Because I have to travel I want to go somewhere special and lucky for me Nashville is driving distance to one of my favorite places to go in Tennessee, Virgin Falls. I love this small pocket wilderness because of it’s location, it’s relative remoteness, and all of the different things you can do once you’re there.
Virgin Falls State Pocket Wilderness is exactly what it’s name says it is. It is a 1,100 acre pocket wilderness just east of Sparta, Tennessee off of HW 70 east and it takes roughly two hours to access from Nashville.
Here are the basics of the trail:
4.5 miles one way from the parking lot to Virgin Falls (roughly 10+ mile round trip when you factor in fun side trips).
Strenuous trail rating with a 900 ft elevation change from the parking lot to the lowest point of the trip so be prepared for a serious climb back to your car.
Scenic overlook spur trail gives an amazing view of the Caney Fork River basin.
Virgin Falls is 110 feet tall and flows out of a cave into another making for a unique waterfall experience.
Multiple campsites along trail make for an easy overnight trip or a longer 10+ hour day trip.
Once at the parking lot it’s time to get your adventure started! One of the best aspects of Virgin Falls is that it isn’t a full blown state park so it doesn’t show up on any “Best Of” websites and so it’s virtually unknown to people outside of the local outdoors community. Because of this relative anonymity you’ll basically have the trail to yourself. You’ll occasionally run into another group, but you won’t get stuck behind any tourists in flipflops and water wings. A dozen or so yards into the trails you’ll find wooden kiosk that will have some trail maps with the campsites marked. You’ll also find a binder in the kiosk that will have the name of the campsites and who is staying at each one. After the kiosk the trail winds through the Cumberland Plateau alongside a small stream that it crosses several times before dropping towards Big Laurel Creek. The initial drop off the plateau leads you to the first set of falls on the trail called Big Branch Falls. These falls aren’t very special in the summer during the dry season, but during the Fall/Winter/Spring they can be very nice as they splash down through the rocks. From Big Branch Falls the trail drops down to Big Laurel Creek and where it crosses at the “Cable Crossing'' named for the cable strung across the creek to be used when the creek is up high after a good rainstorm. Most months the cable isn’t necessary. After crossing Big Laurel Creek the hike truly becomes special. Up until this point the trail ambled through a hardwood forest up on the plateau and then through thickets of mountain laurel as you descend to Big Laurel Creek, but once you cross the creek you’ll find yourself in a gorgeous stand of Hemlock trees that shade the first campground called the Cable Crossing Campground. Alongside this campground Big Laurel Creek fills large, deep pools and burbles through the rocks creating a serene campsite that reminisces of the Appalachian Trail despite being only 2 hours from Nashville. Along the trail out of the campground is the half mile out and back spur trail back to the top of the plateau to Martha’s Pretty Point that overlooks the entirety of the pocket wilderness down to the Caney Fork River, but more on that later.
After leaving the campground the trail walks underneath a unique limestone overhang before following Big Laurel creek for a mile or so all the way down to the second campground at Big Laurel Falls. The trail in between campsites is fairly steep with unstable and slippery footing so boots or hiking shoes are definitely recommended to prevent ankle turns and any clumsy falls on your ass! At the bottom of the trail you’ll find the second largest falls of along the trail, Big Laurel Falls. Big Laurel is a 40 foot waterfall that falls onto rocks and flows back into a massive cave that is at least 50 ft fall and 60 or 70 feet deep with a large sandy beach in the back of the cave. The falls also offer several different campsites that in my opinion are the best camping locations on the trail. You can chose from 3 different spots that are on the same level as the falls or you can be brave and camp on the sandy beach behind the falls in the cave. I always camp on the further of the three campsites on top because it’s out of the spray of the falls, but the sound still lulls me to sleep at night, and it’s a little more secluded so no one is going to wander through camp accidently. Another reason I prefer this spot is that it’s almost exactly halfway between the parking lot and Virgin Falls itself. By camping there you don’t have to lug your gear all the way to the falls and back out. It means that you can set up camp during the middle of the day and take a small daypack with water and snacks to Virgin Falls for lightweight exploring.
Big Laurel Falls also offers the first real exploring opportunity. There is a small trail to the right side of the falls that you can take to the top and you can explore all of stream that feeds Big Laurel. There are large, cold pools for soaking in during the hot summer months or you can just rock hop your way as far up the creek as you want! Be aware, however, that waist high leafy-green plants around the campsites and above the falls are stinging nettles that sting and itch like none other for a few minutes if you brush up against them. After playing around at Big Laurel it’s time to hit the trail again and hike toward Virgin Falls! This trail is nothing special and is fairly flat until you hit a split in the trail about a mile and a half after leaving Big Laurel. The right split leads you on a loop to Sheep’s cave that I usually skip because the much bigger prize (virgin Falls) lies on much shorter loop to the left of the split. After you take the left split you’ll take a really quick drop down to another split in the trail where you can go right to Virgin Falls or left for a few hundred yards to the Caney Fork River. I recommend taking the quick jaunt to the Caney Fork because the water is turquoise blue and clear enough to see the bottom nearly 10 feet deep. There is also a rope swing hanging from one of the trees that is a bunch of fun to swing from! If you’ve got the time, taking a swim in the cold water is extremely refreshing after a long hike, and if you swim to the other bank you might be lucky enough to see a cairn that I made! After the refreshing dip in the river walking to the falls should only take 10 minutes tops. As you hike along the trail you’ll start to climb in elevation slightly and you’ll begin to hear the falls in the distance. Once cresting the hill you be hit with a cool, damp breeze from the falls and roaring noise as water travels 110 feet from the top onto the rocks below. There are several campsites at Virgin Falls, but none in my opinion are worth staying at because they’re not flat and are fairly rocky.
Virgin Falls are awe inspiring. Standing on the ledge and looking up to the top as thousands of gallons of water crash over the edge and into the cave below is humbling. Depending on how much rain has fallen you can see several other branches that run parallel to the main falls. There is a trail down to bottom of the falls where you can stand underneath them if you really want to get you head pelted by the falling water, or you can walk around and behind them to watch the water fall into the caves below. After you’ve climbed back out of the waterfall it’s time time climb to the top! I prefer to take the more fun and more direct route by scrambling up the mountain to the left side of the falls. By taking this route there are opportunities to walk right up next to the falls and even a spot where you can scoot behind the falls nearly 100 feet from the bottom if you’re brave enough! After reaching the very top, there is a campsite to the left and to the right there is a several yard long trail to the stream that flows over the edge to create Virgin Falls. Once at the stream keep following the trail to the left towards the entrance to the cave where the stream flows out of. There it is time to strap your Chacos (or prefered water shoes) on, turn on your headlamp and walk into the mouth of the cave. During the summer the water is still really cold but rarely gets above your ankles. You can follow the cave back for a few minutes until you see daylight to the right where you can climb out the other entrance above the falls or you can keep going deeper into the cave. Since the cave is dozens of feet tall and very wide I usually decide to push further into it. The furthest I’ve ever gone is about 10-15 minutes worth of walking and scrambling back and the only reason I turned around was the need to get back to the campsite before it got dark. When I turned around the cave was still 20 feet high and wide and the stream was only ankle/knee deep and we could have kept going for as far as I could tell. I can’t wait to go back with more time on my hands to go even further back into the caves! After leaving the cave take the trail to the left of the cave entrance back down to base of the falls and refill your water and head back down the trail leading towards your campsite/the parking lot!
Whether you are staying overnight or are making a day trip of it after hiking the grueling hills out of Virgin and the Big Laurel Falls it is worth it to make the half mile detour to the overlook at Martha’s pretty point. Once you’re back at the Cable Crossing campground look for the overlook trail marker and follow the blue trail blazes to top of the plateau. You’ll have a pretty good climb to make and you’ll have to climb a ladder to make the final ascent to the overlook, but once you’re there the view is one of the best you’ll find this close to Nashville! There is a great rock to sit on and just stare over the trees and listen to the birds chirping in the trees below or watch a hawk ride the air currents at eye level. The view essentially lets you see the valleys carved by Big Laurel Creek and The Caney Fork River. In the winter you can see Caney Fork glinting in the valley below, but you can’t see Virgin Falls as there is it is around a corner that you just can’t see around. After you’re done admiring the view for as long as you want you can either walk down the trail you came in on down to the cable crossing and the back up and to the parking lot, or you can take the brand-new overland trail that was constructed very recently along the plateau back to the lot which will save a good sized climb. The new overland trail can be find past the campsites at the overlook and is a very boring trail that uses a logging road that is covered in baseball sized gravel that is killer on the knees and ankles. With time I’m sure the trail will even out and trees will grow over it to shade it, but right now the trail is only worth taking to keep from having to hike down to the cable crossing only to hike back up to the parking lot which on the same elevation as the overlook.
All in all Virgin Falls is my favorite overnight/day hike location 2 hours from Nashville because it is off the beaten trail and offers both the huge waterfalls and overlooks all in one place! Please take a weekend to explore this wonderful pocket wilderness before it gets turned into a state park and everyone finds out about it!