Hikers can explore a fine piece of Tennessee back country at Frozen Head State Park in East Tennessee, near the town of Wartburg.

A short and easy trail leads to a highlight of the park, Emory Gap Falls.

Embarking upon this 1.2-mile Emory Gap Falls Trail (2.4 miles, round-trip), adventurers first come to a 12-foot waterfall known as Debord Falls.

A staircase made of wooden beams and dirt leads down to the base of this falls, where folks can access the pool beneath the falls.

While this small Debord Falls pool is probably no more than five feet at its deepest, a fisherman was giving it a shot on an August afternoon.

Someone told him that it was a good fishing spot, but “I think I was deceived,” he said; however, he then proceeded to pull out five small fish, one right after the other, from the water, surprising the visitor, although the fish were not big enough for keeping.

From this point, the trail continues uphill to Emory Gap Falls, with a gentle slope up nearly the entirety of the span. Overall it’s a fairly easy journey and the trail is wide and clearly defined, but it does include some large rocks and roots to watch out for.

Arriving at Emory Gap Falls yields a fine area surrounding the falls. To the left (when facing the falls) an impressive cavern feature towers overhead—a large rock wall capped by an overhanging ledge. Rocks of various sizes are scattered about at the base of the falls—though not extremely difficult, a little boulder scaling is necessary to make the final approach to the waterfall—and to the right, one can make the climb up the hill to the top of Emory Gap Falls.

Frozen Head State Park also offers playgrounds, campsites and lots of other hiking trails (a total of over 50 miles!), including the (reportedly quite difficult) 7-mile Chimney Top Trail and a 6.5-mile loop that travels to the top of Old Mac Mountain, among a quick storybook trail and various other paths.

The park allows mountain bikes on the 8 miles of trail in the Lookout Tower area.

View a map of Frozen Head State Park here.

Coming from Murfreesboro, adventurers have over a two-hour drive to get to Frozen Head. The Emory Gap Falls Trail can be completed quickly, so the journey is possible to make into a reasonable day trip. However, those wanting to explore the 24,000-acre Frozen Head State Park in a more thorough way could consider an overnight stay at park.

One of the few drawbacks of the area on an otherwise very pleasant 75-degree day was the abundance of gnats flying around everywhere, getting in hikers’ ears and even their eyes. But otherwise, a hiking party had no complaints about the beautiful swath of natural Tennessee hillsides, streams and forests.

From I-40, access Frozen Head State Park from the Crossville Buc-ee’s exit, a traveling plus for many modern adventurers.

Find the Emory Gap Falls Trail from the Panther Branch Trailhead parking area; the only road entering Frozen Head State Park dead-ends here, at the Panther Branch parking site.

Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary, now a tourist attraction that houses a distillery and hosts concerts (Blackberry Smoke plays there in October), also sits near Frozen Head State Park.

The area also hosts the annual Barkley Marathons, a peculiar ultramarathon (a 100-miler) known for its extreme difficulty and partly inspired by the escape of James Earl Ray from Brushy Mountain Penitentiary and his subsequent wanderings through the wilderness.

Emory Gap and Debord Falls
Frozen Head State Park
964 Flat Fork Rd., Wartburg, Tennessee
888-867-2757