Upper Polly Branch Falls is a waterfall on Polly Branch in White County, Tennessee, in the Southwestern Appalachians region, with a total height of about 25 feet. It lies about 11.8 miles west of Lake Tansi and roughly 55.2 miles north of East Chattanooga as the crow flies.
At 25 feet it is on the modest side for Tennessee, where the typical waterfall with a recorded height stands around 30 feet; it ranks 171st of 332. The water comes down as a plunge, where the water drops vertically and loses contact with the rock face.
The Southwestern Appalachians are the Cumberland Plateau and its escarpments, a sandstone tableland covered in oak and mixed mesophytic forest and cut by deep gorges. Creeks pour off the plateau rim over sandstone caprock into gorges, creating many tall, dramatic falls. Polly Branch carries 3 recorded waterfalls, and Upper Polly Branch Falls is the tallest of them.
There are 21 recorded waterfalls in White County. Middle Polly Branch Falls, 14 feet high, is under a mile away. Jenny Branch Falls, a 30-foot plunge waterfall, is under a mile away. Lower Polly Branch Falls, a 12-foot plunge waterfall, is under a mile away.
Upper Polly Branch Falls is located at 35.8643° N, 85.2651° W. The listing is based on the World Waterfall Database, one of the sources compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey in its inventory of waterfalls and rapids of the conterminous United States. The creek name is confirmed against the federal Geographic Names Information System. The exact position has not yet been verified on aerial imagery, so treat the map pin as approximate. Details on trails, parking and access have not been documented for this waterfall yet.