Bounteous geology on the Cumberland Plateau

On a nature hike at Fall Creek Falls State Park in Tennessee, one sees the wild beauty that includes velvety sheets of waterfalls and spectacular gorges.

PIKEVILLE, Tenn. -- It could have been the Yosemite of the Southeast, a national park to rival the splendors of the Sierra Nevadas.

INFO: For info and reservations: (800) 250-8610 For other Tennessee State Parks: (888) TN-PARKS. For general vacation info: (800) GO-2-TENN. Click here for more information.

Its valleys nurture rare stands of virgin timber. A rugged river gorge snakes through its heart and spectacular waterfalls carve its sandstone cap. Fall Creek Falls, in particular, is the highest falls east of the Rocky Mountains, 89 feet higher than Niagara, or so said the Tennessee State Park pamphlet, the one we picked up in Nashville.

But as we pulled into visitor parking and drops of rain begin to sprinkle the windshield, my husband, Steve, shot me a quizzical frown. As Californians we know Yosemite well. So far, this eastern wannabe -- Fall Creek Falls State Park -- seemed disappointingly ordinary.

The forest was magnificent, truly. To the right and the left, and as far as the eye could see, trees and more trees -- maple, oak, hemlock, tulip poplar, pine, hickory and lord knows what-all stretched away over ground as flat as a griddle cake. But it was time to obey the sign that urged us to walk 100 yards down the path to the overlook.

And there we discovered why Uncle Sam once thought this falls and this forest, at 1,800 feet on the western edge of the Cumberland Plateau, was worth saving. Abruptly, the forest primeval separated, the winding ribbon of asphalt ended at a metal railing and our view dissolved into thin air.

Ahead, a vast yawning crack cleaved the earth. And beyond was Fall Creek Falls, crowned by a halo of fine mist, a velvety sheet of water spilling over a horizontal rim of rock, plunging 256 feet into a pool at the bottom of the gorge.

On the canyon's vertical sides, ferns and flowers clung to layers of ancient sandstone, the rocks of ages. Mist-drenched moss filled the crevices. A rich earthy smell rose from the forest floor and mingled with the odor of wet leaves.

On the horizon, green waves and troughs in the top of the forest canopy marked other gorges, places where in ages past, water seeped and trickled and rushed into fissures and faults, scouring out narrow valleys.

``You'll get the best photos of the falls from the bottom,'' said ranger naturalist Stuart Carroll, a Liam Neeson look-alike who was leading a ``nature ramble'' on the canyon rim. ``It's steep going down, but short -- about a half-mile of switchbacks. Longer hiking trails start farther up down river. To go over there,'' Carroll pointed toward the trees on the horizon and the 20,136-acre park's newest acquisition, 2,883 acres acquired in 1997, ``you have to backpack.

``The first white settlers who came down into Tennessee in the late 18th century called the Cumberland Plateau's narrow valleys gulfs,'' said Carroll. ``The steepest gulfs were never cut. They were too rocky and inaccessible. But most of the rest of the forest was logged.''

By 1935, when the federal government proposed the creation of a national park, many of the forests had regrown, said park manager A.J. Anderson, who grew up just beyond the park's boundaries. But the region wasn't self-sufficient.

``There were real hard times up here during the Depression, and the government wanted to make jobs for the local people. Most of this land was worn out, cut over and farmed until it was used up. They didn't have fertilizer then. It got so that people were collecting corn stalks to feed the cattle,'' he said.

``Of course, some people didn't want to go, and they're still resentful. But other people moved just outside and got jobs in the park.''

Halfway into the project, however, a problem surfaced. When Fall Creek, the river that fed the falls, shrank to a trickle at the end of summer, so did the falls. No longer able to meet the standards established for national parks, the government abandoned the plan. Finally, in 1943, they deeded the land to Tennessee.

Twenty-five years later, the state built a 345-acre lake and a dam on Fall Creek, providing year-around water to the falls. Then they followed up with $8 million to build an inn, a lodge, two campgrounds, rental cabins, group lodges, two tennis courts, softball diamonds, a championship 18-hole golf course, 25 miles of biking trails and a village green with a grocery store, gift shop, Laundromat and other visitor facilities.

Along the rim of the river gorge, they cut the seven-mile Scenic Gorge Loop road, with walking paths and scenic viewpoints. In the back country, hunters' paths became 25 miles of hiking trails. When they finished, Fall Creek Falls State Park was a place with as much wild beauty as Yosemite, three times the recreational facilities and one-fifth the visitors, now a million a year.

``When they (the federal government) saw it, they wanted it back,'' said Anderson, chuckling. ``But it was too late. They'd already given it away.''

When the rain let up we drove along the rim, down to where Fall Creek flows into Cane Creek, and from there along Piney Creek, a second tributary. We stopped at another overlook, to admire Piney Falls and then headed back over the dam, passing the tennis and basketball courts, the boat dock, campgrounds and stables.

Our last stop was at Cane Creek Falls, near the Betty Dunn Nature Center. Behind the Nature Center, above Cascade Falls, we crossed the suspension bridge over Cane Creek -- the ``swinging bridge,'' they call it here because it bounces and sways when you walk across.

Portions of Disney's 1994 ``Jungle Book'' movie were filmed here, where wide cascades tumble over stair-stepped rocks and leafy branches overhang the banks, a drowsy rain forest that recalls the Indian subcontinent.

Inside the Nature Center, a film was in progress, showing how sediment fell to the ancient sea bottom, how pressure created the sandstone, how the continents collided to push up the Cumberland Plateau, how the glaciers advanced and retreated everywhere on the plateau; rushing water still erodes the softer stone from under the harder top layers.

With such bounteous geology on the Cumberland Plateau, it's not surprising that five state parks have been established. Burgess Falls State Natural Area, near Sparta, is a lush woodlands, with numerous species of flowers and trees. Cumberland Mountain Park, at 2,000 feet, has cabins and trails around a lake.

Big South Fork National Recreation Area, near the Kentucky border, is a huge region of forests and canyons so untouched that the federal government, belatedly, stepped in and intervened to protect the area.

Pickett State Park, which shares a border with Big South Fork, shares its ecology and geology, with hiking trails, birds, animals and sandstone cliffs and arches. Nearby is Colditz Cove Natural Area, one of the few ``gulfs'' that non-hikers can reach easily.

Formed by stream erosion, Colditz Cove is unique in that it's never been cut. A throwback to the last ice age, its trees and plants are direct descendants of species that colonized the cove after the glaciers melted.

The half-mile loop trail, narrow and rocky in places, takes you back 10,000 years into a temperate rain forest, down one side of the canyon, through the sandstone cave behind Northrup Falls and up the other rim. Colditz is a miniature gem, a tiny Yosemite in its own right, but much too small for national park status. Which may be Tennessee's good luck.

Accommodations at Fall Creek Falls State Park include 20 rental cabins and 227 camp sites in three campgrounds, with tables, grills, water, electricity and hookups. Half can be reserved in advance. The Inn, located on the lake, has 72 rooms, meeting rooms and a cafeteria-style dining room. Bicycles, for use on paved and back country paths, can be rented at the Village Green. Boats and fishing equipment are available for rent.

For information and reservations, call (800) 250-8610 or 250-8611, or (423) 881-3297. The park is a 2 1/2-hour drive east of Nashville, 18 miles west of Pikeville off Highway 30.

For other Tennessee State Parks, brochures and contact numbers, call (888) TN-PARKS. For general vacation information, call (800) GO-2-TENN or (615) 741-8299.

(Anne Z. Cooke is a travel writer based in Los Angeles, Calif.)

© 1998, Anne Z. Cooke. Distributed by Los Angeles Times Syndicate.