Virgin Falls

South of Highway 70, halfway between Sparta and Crossville TN is the Virgin Falls Pocket Wilderness, a protected region of forest in logging country. Here is a trail which, at four miles long ( eight round trip) provides a challenging and beautiful day of hiking, or a more leisurely overnight hike. The trail begins by winding smoothly across a region of flat forest floor, picking up and following along a small brook, which is surrounded by ferns in summer. The trail weaves in and among rhododendrons, which replace the ferns as the brook gathers water and becomes a small stream. After crossing this brook, the trail departs it and begins a moderate down slope, your footsteps cushioned by the spongy humus held together by the web-like roots of the rhododendrons. This leads into a drier forest area, with several fallen trees, before reaching another stream and crossing it, possibly assisted by a cable strung there

Turning left, the first of the camp sites is immediately ahead. The trail continues to follow the water downstream. Not much farther along the trail you come to the picturesque Big Branch Falls. After Big Branch Falls, you will pass a split where you can head to the right to visit a lookout. I have personally never followed this route, but this option will reconnect to the trail further on. The stream continues to go down the valley, while the trail remains level along one side of it. This area is characterized by the classic Tennessee limestone cliffs, and depending on the season, different wildflowers and plants can be seen in this area including trillium, sorrel, and even yellow lady slippers.

Continuing on you come to the Big Laurel Falls, which falls over a rock ledge, and disappears into the sandy ground. Behind the falls is a very large rock house. The scale of this falls is often lost in photographs, as the boulders, falls and trees fail to provide a point of reference for the size. The trail descends rather steeply at this point, so that you may explore the area behind the falls, and there is evidence of camping in the area beyond the falls, though whether this is a designated camping location I am not sure.

To continue the trail, you will once again be following along the edge of this valley, then crossing over a ridge and heading towards Virgin Falls. In this area the trail will split, with the right hand split being a longer trek, but in my opinion travels through a more beautiful section of the trail and has the added bonus of passing by Sheep Cave Falls, a unique feature which you can explore, at your own risk. From here you will cross over another ridge, at which point the falls should become audible. The trail will then come to the campground, and from there you can easily reach the falls, only a few dozen feet away.

The falls are fairly high, but the most interesting characteristic is the way the stream comes out of the ground, falls over the waterfall, and immediately goes back underground again. While the falls is beautiful and impressive from the flat camping area immediately in front of it, do not forget to walk around the far side and up to the top. Along the was you will see jack in the pulpit growing among the rocks, and at the top, wild iris may be in bloom. The easy climb is worth it for the clean cold air emanating from the cave the water emerges from. This is also a great place to fill up on water.

For those wanting to camp, it is probably better to skip Sheep Cave Falls in favor of the shorter hike in, and take that route on the return trip, so you have something new to see that day, and since you will likely have more time on the second day to explore. For those doing the hike in a single day, I recommend the opposite, mostly because it's better to build up to Virgin Falls.