Bruce Creek Falls is a 55-foot tiered waterfall on Bruce Creek in Campbell County, Tennessee, just outside Caryville, sitting on the Cumberland Trail beside Interstate 75. Much of what hikers see today was shaped when the highway was built.
The falls
A lidar survey puts the falls at about 55 feet in four plunges, the tallest about 50 feet. The Cumberland Trail Conservancy describes the cascades and waterfalls as totaling 70 feet, with a 20-foot fall in the center and a ten-foot waterfall dropping into a green pool just below. The falls are also known as Little Egypt Falls, and Campbell County's tourism office calls the route Triple Falls Trail.
Getting there
The quickest approach starts from Shelton Hollow Lane, in the community north of Cove Lake State Park. A small gravel pull-off for a few cars sits about 0.2 mile down the lane, marked by boulders, with no restrooms. From there, an old dirt road climbs 0.1 mile to the trail, which turns up Bruce Creek to the falls — about 1 mile round trip. The full trail is 1.9 miles out and back, rated moderate. About 0.6 mile of the Eagle Bluff section south of Eagle Rock Road is closed for a trail redesign, though that closure does not appear to affect the Shelton Hollow approach.
When to go
March through November is the best time to visit.
On site
The trail climbs steeply beside the cascades, and at the top of the falls a short spur leads to a view while the main trail continues up the creek. The path gets muddy and slippery after rain; a wrong turn at one junction leads to an area with broken glass. Dogs are allowed on the trail.
History and name
Interstate 75 was built along the foot of the Devils Racetrack in the mid-1980s. To keep Bruce Creek from eroding the highway embankment, engineers moved it about 40 feet toward the mountain, partly into a culvert, and built artificial waterfalls and pools to slow its flow. The falls are considered at least partly man-made, though a natural fall likely stood here before.
Nearby
Adkins Branch Falls is about 1.5 miles away, Duncan Branch Falls about 2.4 miles and Meadow Creek Falls about 5.2 miles. Cove Lake State Park lies just to the south.
Distances are straight-line.