Falls panorama from overlook - photo by Will Blozan

Fall Creek Falls State Resort Park encompasses over 20,000 acres on
the western edge of Tennessee's Cumberland Plateau. On the park's
flat plateau lands, the state has developed several amenities; cabins,
picnic areas, a lake, and a golf course; to accommodate travelers from
Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Nashville, all about equidistant, but the
central attraction of the park remains the waterfalls. Cane Creek,
Falls Creek, and Piney Creek plunge over the thick, erosion resistant
layer of sandstone that forms the top of the plateau into two gorges
that reach a depth of 600 feet. Cane Creek has the largest water
volume, but the park's namesake fall has achieved the greatest
notoriety for a 180' free drop. The waterfalls, gorges, and much of
the undeveloped plateau lands now make up a state natural area.

Falls from below - photo by Will Blozan

Falls as viewed from overlook and plunge pool - photo by Will Blozan

Not surprisingly, steep slopes and copious boulders limited logging in
the gorges. Previous estimates of old growth in the park range from
20 to 200 acres and suggest extensive selective cutting (Davis 2003).
While loggers could have removed the largest tuliptrees and a few
other valuable individuals, old trees occupy much of the Cane Creek
gorge, and the upper reaches of the gorge are likely untouched.
Sandstone underlies that section of the gorge, so hemlock strongly
dominates the canopy. Farther down the gorge, layers of limestone
allow a diverse, mixed mesophytic forest to develop on the north and
east facing slopes. The rich forest generally resembles the forests
of Savage Gulf, but pignut hickory, cucumbertree, and basswood are
less common. Basswood still makes up a significant portion of the
overstory mixed with sugar maple, hemlock, yellow buckeye, and smaller
quantities of several other hardwoods. Under them grow yellow birch
and a thin understory of striped maple. In early spring, acute-leaved
hepatica, spring beauty, purple phacelia, and intermediate wood fern
grew on the boulders and forest floor.

Large eastern hemlock - photo by Will Blozan

Jess Riddle measuring large shagbark hickory in boulder field - photo by Will Blozan

More surprisingly, uncut forests remain atop the plateau; however,
these forests bear scant resemblance to the towering cove forests in
the gorges below. Amongst a patchwork of developed areas, clearcuts
of the last few decades, and mature second growth, several tracts,
probably totaling hundreds of acres, of stunted oak forests survive on
the gentle terrain of the plateau. Crinkly white, post, and scarlet
oaks form a low canopy with scattered black oaks and southern red oaks
and patches of virginia pine. The dry forests boast an open
understory except near the edges of the gorges where mountain laurel
and chestnut oak are common. Unfortunately, significant sections of
this forest may have been lost to development and cutting over the
past few decades.

Species Cbh Height
Ash, Green 8'0" 143.9'
Ash, Green 6'11" 146.7'
Basswood, White 7'9.5" 127.3'
Basswood, White 6'3" 135.1'
Basswood, White 6'3.5" 136.0'
Basswood, White 6'3" 153.2'
Beech, American 8'0" 127.3'
Beech, American 10'3" 127.6'
Beech, American 8'4" 131.7'
Beech, American 10'2" 136.3'
Buckeye, Yellow 7'7" 124.7'
Buckeye, Yellow 9'1" 139.4'
Elm, American 10'1" 96.0'
Elm, American 9'2" 111.7'
Hemlock, Eastern 11'4" 147.6'
Hickory, Bitternut 7'11" 134.1'
Hickory, Bitternut 6'0" 137.4'
Hickory, Shagbark 6'8" 146.1'
Hickory, Shagbark 7'8" 147.7'
Maple, Sugar 8'3" 127.1'
Sycamore 7'7" 132.9'
Tuliptree 8'7" 159.7'

Rucker Height Index    142.8'
Tuliptree                      159.7'
White Basswood          153.2'
Shagbark Hickory        147.7'
Eastern Hemlock          147.6'
Green Ash                    146.7'
Yellow Buckeye           139.4'
Bitternut Hickory          137.4'
American Beech           136.3'
Sycamore                      132.9'
Sugar Maple                 127.1'

The 146.7' green ash is the second tallest known, and tallest in Tennessee.

The basswood slightly eclipses one at Savage Gulf for the eastern
height record although Savage Gulf still has more tall basswoods.

Tall Green Ashes -photo by Will Blozan

Beech and Ash Forest - photo by Will Blozan

The beeches may constitute one of the tallest known groves in the
southeast, and the 136.3' individual is the second tallest ENTS has
identified. No other site in the southeast is known to have multiple
beech over 130', but that fact may change with additional searching at
Meeman-Shelby State Park.

The Rucker Index is the third highest in Tennessee behind the Smokies
and Savage Gulf, which rank one and two in the eastern U.S.
respectively.

Jess Riddle & Will Blozan

Davis, Mary Byrd. Old-Growth in the East: A Survey. Rev. Ed.
Appalachia-Science in the Public Interest. 2003.