The River That Falls off the Mountain

Not far up from where you started, back near Tellico Plains, a side road turns off and runs up the Tellico River — and if you ever have an hour to spare on this drive, that little detour leads to one of the prettiest sights in these mountains: Bald River Falls, ninety feet of white water pouring off the mountain right beside the road, close enough to soak you with its mist.

Here's what I love about that spot. The road you'd drive to reach it runs right up an old railroad bed — because a hundred years ago this whole country belonged to the Babcock Lumber Company, and they laid rails up every single river and creek to haul out the timber. Where you'd stand watching that waterfall today, there once rolled log trains, screaming saws, and a camp full of hard men stripping these mountains bare.

And the mountains took it all back. The rails are gone, the camps are gone, the great trees are growing again, and the Bald River just keeps pouring off the rock exactly as it did before the first axe, and exactly as it will long after we're all forgotten. That's the thing about this country — we came and did our worst and left, and the water never even noticed. If you've got the time on your way through, go pay your respects to that waterfall. It's been here a while, and it'll wait.