Fall Creek Falls State Park

October 20, 2022

Collins Parker,

Benton Branch Cascade

SPENCER, Tennessee (WDEF) – Fall Creek Falls State Park just grew by 838 acres today.

The state has bought the property from multiple parties along the borders.

The new tracts are in the Dry Fork watershed

It has five miles of streams, including Dry Fork, Benton Branch, and Mount Pleasant Branch.

Tricolored bat

The property also contains bluffs and caves and provides homes and buffers for rare species like Indiana Bats.

In fact, TWRA scientists recently found the threatened tricolor bat in one of the caves.

“This is a magnificent addition to this popular state park,” said TDEC Deputy Commissioner Greer Tidwell.

“Like many places in Tennessee, and in large part the result of its scenic beauty, the Southeast region’s population is booming – putting its natural assets at risk,” said Alice Hudson Pell, interim executive director of TennGreen Land Conservancy.

“Fall Creek Falls State Park, and public land in general, is a huge driver of Tennessee’s recreation economy,” said Ralph Knoll, Tennessee state director at The Conservation Fund. “This addition of state park land is a perfect example of how environmental protections and economic sustainability can go hand in hand, and how partnerships can make it happen.”