Date: 2007-02-18
To: Fall Creek Falls State Park (TN)
Miles today: 0.0

Feb. 16-18   Donna ("D-bird")& I decide to take a belated Valentines Day get-away to Fall Creek Falls State park near Pikeville,TN.We book a room in the Park Inn facing the Lake...nice!Donna takes off a few hours early & we head East...about a 2 hour drive...from the TN State Parks website:Fall Creek Falls State Resort Park is one of the most scenic and spectacular recreation areas in America. Its waterfalls, cascades, sparkling streams, gorges, timberland and an unmatched variety of recreation facilities and activities have made it one of the most popular parks in the Southeast. Fall Creek Falls is one of the highest waterfalls east of the Rocky Mountains, plunging 256 feet into a shaded pool at the base of its gorge. The park's other falls, (Piney, Cane Creek and Cane Creek Cascades), though smaller, are just as impressive.The oak and hickory forest that covers most of the park gives way to tulip poplar and hemlock forest in the gorges. The plants and animals of the moist, protected gorges are not unlike the species found in southern Canada. Mountain laurel and rhododendron are abundant throughout the park, as are other plants and animals.The park is located in Bledsoe and Van Buren counties, 11 miles east of Spencer and 18 miles west of Pikeville. It may be entered from Highway 111 or Highway 30.Weather forecasters are predicting about 2 inches of snow @ our house (in Springfield,TN) for the weekend...dont know about the Park area.we arrive about 5pm (friday afternoon) & check in...nice room...facing the small lake here in the park.years ago (back in my radio career days) i lived in nearby Pikeville,TN...a very small town full of SWAFFORDs (interesting to my genealogy wanderings).We dont have time to see any sites tonight as the Sun is already setting...but, tomorrow is another day! (where've i heard that?)Saturday: we get outta the room around 10a.m. & ride around the Park...it SNOWED about an inch or so overnight...we head to Fall Creek Falls (the BIG Falls) the base @ the falls is frozen...making for pretty scenery.we take many photos...then drive around to Piney Falls....walk down to the overlook to take some photos....slipping & sliding all the way..then over to Cane Creek Gorge..more photos...then to Cane Creek Falls & Cascade Falls...more photos...more slipping & sliding on the snow & ice...we stop by the Nature Center but it was closed...we head on out of the park 7 down the mountain into Pikeville...sight-seeing....drive by my very first radio station WUAT-AM 1110 on your radio dial!its now a lawyers office...lots of neat old, ante-bellum homes on main street....we stop by a grocery store & get some snacks for later.back to the Park Inn & our room...we watch a Dean Martin TV show tape that i got Donna for Valentines Day...(she's been into Dino ever since she got the Dean Martin Christmas CD a couple years ago!)we take in the Park Inn restuarant as well...i had two desserts...peach cobbler & banana puddin' (i PROMISED friend Bobby Rawls i'd eat some for him..hehehehehehe...gotta keep that promise!)Sunday:...we get up & head out about 10am...take a few photos before leaving....it snowed about 3 inches overnight...we see a herd of young deer on the drive out...about 9 in all....enjoyable, relaxing weekend...it's nice to get away from time to time & re-charge.see ya'll up the trail!