Guardian Falls is a waterfall on Piney Creek in Rhea County, Tennessee, in the Southwestern Appalachians region, with a total height of about 6 feet. It lies about 6.2 miles southwest of Spring City and roughly 43.4 miles north of East Chattanooga as the crow flies.
At 6 feet it is one of the lowest falls in the state’s records: of the 332 Tennessee waterfalls with a documented height only 3 are shorter, while the typical Tennessee waterfall stands around 30 feet. The water comes down as a segmented waterfall, splitting into two or more separate streams as it falls.
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. Piney Creek carries 2 recorded waterfalls; the biggest of them reaches 95 feet.
There are 14 recorded waterfalls in Rhea County. White Pines Cascades, is about 3.1 miles away. Deep Pool Cascades, is about 3.7 miles away. Stinging Fork Falls, a 60-foot plunge waterfall, is about 5.4 miles away.
Guardian Falls is located at 35.6465° N, 84.9555° 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.