4th Stop - Fall Creek Falls (TN)

Blog Post #11 - Written May 21, 2025

Stay: May 8-10, 2025

4th Stop - Fall Creek Falls State Park (TN)

From Mammoth Cave, we continued southward through the hilly, mountainous, windy roads of KY and TN (oftentimes wondering if our trailer would make it or fit, white-knuckling the wheel on many occasions) until we made it to our next destination: a Harvest Host spot run by Kurt and Maria Howland.

After digging some big divots in his freshly laid gravel driveway (woops, sorry Kurt!), he helped back me in next to their house. And Z and Q's favorite kind of welcoming committee (of the canine variety) came our to greet us. D has historically loved dogs from afar, but feared them up close. But these two dogs (a German Shepherd named Star, and a little Yorkshire Terrier named Sassy) helped her overcome her fears and she absolutely loved them the whole time we were there. All 3 kids just wanted to play with the dogs the whole time and a weeks or so later when we asked them what their favorite part of the trips so far had been, they smiled "Star and Sassy!"

After we got the trailer set up and there was a break in the rain, since Megan and I have a hard time sitting still we figured we'd go check out the nature center. Well of course once we got there, we couldn't not go swing on the suspension bridge. And once we crossed that, we could not go on a little 3 mile round-trip hike with a bunch of overlooks! Luckily, we always travel with lots of snacks and water these days :)   The kids were troopers and good sports, but eventually their patience ran out when it started raining haha. But man, what's a little rain when you get to see the magnificent waterfalls!

D (and her brothers, but mostly D) loved swaying on this suspension bridge. She's our daredevil!

Founds this fallen tree and of course and to climb all over and under it  ;)

                                                                          We found these beautiful blooming mountain laurel all over.

I tell you what, the views were something else.

This was my favorite overlook. So so so cool.  Of course it started raining and everyone wanted to rush out of there once we got to it.

The next day, we went to a walking path from the lake to the Falls, but decided that since we have all the kids bike in the truck bed, we would let the boys ride their bikes and put D in the stroller. That worked well for about 10 seconds until we couldn't see the boys anymore because we can't run as fast as they can ride. Luckily it wasn't too far and we caught up to them eventually. The view was stunning again and despite the sign warning that the hike to the bottom of the falls was "VERY STRENUOUS", we decided to give it a go. Once again, the kids impressed me. Z and Q had no problem and loved it. D did pretty good for a 2 yo. I'm learning to be patient and understanding (we're pushing her past her limits a lot on this trip) and getting buff from carrying her so much while hiking haha. Went to another overlook and suspension bridge before heading back home.

We stopped at a pretty little pull-off spot on the way up. Just had to throw some rocks and catch some tadpoles!

My finger is pointing to the outlook rock we hiked/climbed to our first day :)

A portion of the slippery hike down and a view of the falls from below.

My hiking buddies :)

My favorite ladies.                                          And D posing with me in front of the "VERY STRENUOUS" sign. You can do hard things!

Our little adventurers.                                                                 And the second suspension bridge, from beneath.

Peek-a-boo! After we crossed the bridge, D had disappeared and we found her back on the bridge, hiding behind the pillar  :)

Our last day we decided we'd better bring our bikes in order to keep up with the boys, so we figured out a way to unload some of the truck bed contents to fit our bikes in there so we could transport them (very exciting development for us, btw!). We took them to a bike path around the lake and D demonstrated her skills at falling asleep anywhere. At one point, I felt what I thought was someone pushing me from behind, which startled me since I was riding my bike and thought some other biker mmust be really impatient and in a hurry to get around me haha! It was D, who had completely passed out and her head flopped down and hit me. I buckled Megan's running fanny pack around her head/neck and the bike seat to keep her head up haha 😂 

After our bike ride, we drove along a "scenic loop" and stopped at a few more overlooks, but my favorite part was on the side of the road. We spotted 2 armadillos! I immediately pulled over and hopped out to get a closer look. I stopped about 20-30 feet away, but one of them came right up to me and started nibbling my shoe! I couldn't believe it. He was so cute and while they are apparently very common down here, this was the first time I'd seen one in real life, so I was pretty friggin' excited.

Short VIDEO of the Armadillo: Click here

I couldn't resist another mountain laurel pic. They were so prevalent and pretty! And lots of holly too.

Back at the trailer, the kids got to help Kurt collect eggs from the chickens. Kurt has about 70 chickens and we bought 4 dozen eggs from him. I learned that farm fresh eggs are sold unwashed, so they still have the 'bloom' on them that protects them and keeps them good/fresh (unrefrigerated) for a long time. And thenyou just wash them before you crack them.  Store-bought eggs are already washed, so they don't have the bloom and therefore need to be kept refrigerated. 

Neat Person Spotlight #4: Kurt Howland, our host. He and his wife Maria are from upstate NY, but lived most recently in FL for many years. They got sick of so many people and bought this land in TN a couple years ago. He's since dug a pond, cleared a garden area, started a greenhouse, bred 70 egg laying hens from only a few to start with, and has 3 RV trailers that he Airbnbs out. And walks around with an old Colt 45 revolver. Quite the retirement! Seriously, how awesome. And he and his wife were so kind and patient with the kids; between all 3 wanting to pet the dogs non-stop and Z chatting them up (and their friends visiting from GA), they sure earned their stripes!