For the waterfall fan looking for some beautiful features contained within a short distance, Tennessee’s Greeter Falls Loop trail leads to multiple scenic falls while covering a variety of terrain.

Near the small mountain town of Altamont (elevation 1,854 feet), not too far outside of Manchester, the Greeter site, once home to a family bearing that name, has now become part of the massive South Cumberland State Park.

Two sections make up Greeter Falls, one just upstream from the other. Upper Greeter Falls, a very neat and striking feature of its own, plunges 15 feet. A huge boulder sits in Firescald Creek at the base of this waterfall, and hikers can walk, with caution, right up to the top, or bottom, of the Upper Falls.

Upper Greeter Falls

Nearby, the even taller and more impressively picturesque Lower Greeter Falls sends the Tennessee creek down 50 feet into a stunningly beautiful plunge pool below.

How blue the water in the pool at the base of Lower Greeter Falls appeared on a breezy, mild winter day!

During hotter months, this area should make a fantastic swimming hole.

To get to these features, a trailhead begins just off the Greeter Falls parking lot, a roomy, paved parking area a couple of miles from downtown Altamont.

At the trailhead, a trail option to go right leads four-tenths of a mile to an area called Blue Hole a bit farther upstream Firescald, which according to reports is a suitable swimming area as well.

But going left at the trail’s beginning takes a hiking party on the Greeter Falls Loop.

The trail is very level as it begins, covered in sand in some sections, and not too difficult at all.

Greeter home place

Just a short distance from the parking area, a very short offshoot trail leads to the site of the old Greeter home place. A large well and the foundation of a cabin remain at this site, where the Greeter family constructed a home in the 1880s. John W. Greeter, the grandson of original settler John G. Greeter, sold the property to the State of Tennessee in 1980. John W. actually lived in this cabin in his youth.

Back to the loop, the primary trail covers lots of various, interesting terrain as it travels to the waterfalls.

A hiker shouldn’t get bored on this trail, which is flat in some areas, steep in others, heavily wooded with towering old pine trees and other forestry, and featuring lots of rock face. Pay attention. It goes from flat to steep, uphill, downhill, along massive rock walls to creekside, rocky, rooty, and from leafy to sandy.

In short order, one can walk right up to an overlook above Upper Greeter Falls. Whoa! It’s straight down. Use caution if you stray off of the trail to get a view of the falls from above.

After visiting Upper Greeter and getting back to the loop trail, a big, metal (sometimes slightly slippery) spiral staircase installed in the woods leads down to Lower Greeter Falls, allowing walkers to descend down a vertical rocky section to access the main waterfall.

An additional wooden stair section leads almost all the way to the pool below Lower Greeter. A large slanted rock can make the last few steps a bit treacherous for those distracted by the impressive falls, but here you have made it and can take in the blue water, blue sky and tranquil sound of perpetually rushing water in the isolated wooded hills of Tennessee.

After hanging out at this area for as long as a visitor likes, they can continue on the loop trail, which leads to even more waterfalls, though not quite as striking, or accessible, as the Greeter Falls area.

Lower Greeter Falls

Sometimes Broadtree Falls can be only a trickle during dry periods, nowhere nearly as impressive as Greeter. Seeing it from the trail can be difficult, and getting near it safely may prove difficult as well. But it provides another element of the Tennessee forest to view in the area.

Broadtree Falls

“The waterfalls were beautiful and totally worth the climb,” one recent visitor said. “The trail may be difficult for smaller children and a little nerve-wracking for parents at the places where there are bluffs, but all-in-all a fabulous hike!”

The Greeter Falls area could also be a possible rock climbing paradise for the experienced outdoor climber.

Greeter Falls Loop may not be a trail for the complete beginner, with some steep portions, some slippery rocks and some bluffs very near the trail at some parts, but it’s not overwhelmingly difficult either, and a hiker can see a lot of beautiful sights in a journey of just over a mile.

Tennessee State Park literature calls the trail, which leads to multiple waterfalls, numerous bluffs, swimming areas and a historic homeplace site, “one of the best short waterfall hikes on the plateau.”

And if a hiking party needs some more adventure, take the small swinging bridge near Broadtree Falls to access the 90-plus miles of additional trails and attractive features South Cumberland State Park offers.

Greeter Falls
Greeter Falls Road, Altamont, Tennessee
(off of Tennessee Highway 56)
931 924-2980