Virgin Falls
Virgin Falls Pocket Wilderness contains one of the nicest day hikes and short overnight backpacking spots on the entire Cumberland Plateau. Within a 2-hour drive from downtown Chattanooga, this 9-mile hike offers 4 waterfalls, subterranean tributaries, and scenic overlooks. One of the most unusual aspects of the pocket wilderness is its karst features—Virgin Falls being a prime example. Its high-volume tributary bursts out of a cave and flows several hundred feet above ground, before plunging 110 feet. At the base of the falls it immediately disappears back underground. The hike also offers a great cave mouth at Big Laurel Falls, with it’s 80 ft ceiling and expansive breadth.
(Source: Leif Ramsey)
Points of Interest
Trailhead: 35.854133° -85.282164°
Big Laurel Falls: 1.9m / 35.84376° -85.30918°
Sheeps Cave: 3.35m / 35.84196° -85.32492°
Virgin Falls: 3.9m / 35.83831° -85.33013°