Pressley Cove Falls is a waterfall on Rock Creek in Polk County, Tennessee, in the Blue Ridge region, with a total height of about 5 feet. It lies about 7.9 miles northwest of McCaysville and roughly 45 miles east of East Chattanooga as the crow flies.
At 5 feet it is one of the lowest falls in the state’s records: of the 332 Tennessee waterfalls with a documented height only 1 are shorter, while the typical Tennessee waterfall stands around 30 feet.
The Blue Ridge is the highest part of the southern Appalachians, a range of forested peaks and coves with oak, hickory, tulip poplar and hemlock and spruce-fir on the summits, in one of the wettest climates in the East. Steep mountain streams drop over granite, gneiss and quartzite ledges, giving the region hundreds of waterfalls. Rock Creek carries 5 recorded waterfalls; the biggest of them reaches 65 feet.
There are 10 recorded waterfalls in Polk County. Lower Turtletown Falls, a 55-foot block waterfall, is about 7.8 miles away. Turtletown Falls, a 25-foot segmented waterfall, is about 8.2 miles away. Chestnut Mountain Falls, a 40-foot horsetail waterfall, is about 8.4 miles away.
Pressley Cove Falls is located at 35.0786° N, 84.4531° 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.