Frozen Head State Park: Debord Falls and Emory Gap Falls (Blog Hike #1063)

Trails: Panther Branch and Emory Gap Trails
Hike Location: Frozen Head State Park
Geographic Location: east of Wartburg, TN (36.13641, -84.48775)
Length: 2.6 miles
Difficulty: 5/10 (Moderate)
Date Hiked: March 2025
Overview: An out-and-back past 2 nice waterfalls.
Park Information: https://tnstateparks.com/parks/frozen-head
Hike Route Map:

On The Go Map

Photo Highlight:

Hike Video:

Directions to the trailhead: From the intersection of SR 62 and US 27 in Wartburg, take SR 62 east 1.5 miles to Flat Fork Road and a brown sign for Frozen Head State Park.  Turn left on Flat Fork Rd.  Flat Fork Rd. becomes the park road at the park entrance.  Continue to follow the main park road past the Visitor Center and over a one lane bridge to its end at the Panther Branch Trailhead, which has a large blacktop parking lot that will hold about 25 cars.  Park in this lot.

The hike: For my general comments on Frozen Head State Park, see my previous hike on the park's Judge Branch Trail, which is described elsewhere in this Trail Journal.  The hike described here heads up Panther Branch, and it is the most popular short hike in this large park because it leads to 2 scenic waterfalls: Debord Falls and Emory Gap Falls.  Even better, the trail stays near Panther Branch or its tributary Emory Gap Branch most of the time.  Thus, although this hike gains about 450 feet of elevation, it does so on easy and moderate grades.

Panther Branch Trailhead

            At the rear of the parking lot, pick up the Panther Branch Trail as it heads up through the ravine of its namesake creek.  A large sign with a park closing time marks this trailhead, and the Panther Branch Trail is marked with blue trail markers.  Broadleaf trees including some sweetgums dominate this forest, but a few pine trees grow along the trail.

Panther Branch

            The wide two-track dirt trail climbs gradually with the creek 20-30 feet downhill to the right.  Careful observation will lead you to conclude that this trail is an old road: the stone walls used for footbridge supports today are much larger than would be required for a footbridge and hence are probably from a former road bridge.  Just past 0.5 miles, you reach the signed spur trail for Debord Falls, which exits right.  Only a couple hundred feet later, you descend some steps and arrive at the base of Debord Falls, where a viewing area gives a great view of the waterfall.  Debord Falls is a common 10-foot ledge-type waterfall with a large plunge pool, and it adds some extra scenery to this creekside hike.

Debord Falls

            Back on the main trail, continue upstream to reach a trail intersection at 0.9 miles.  The Panther Branch Trail exits right and leads to some backcountry campsites and eventually to the trail that leads to the top of Frozen Head Mountain.  This hike angles left to leave the Panther Branch Trail and begin the Emory Gap Trail, still following the old dirt road but now with white trail markers.

Hiking on the old road

            Just past 1 mile, the old dirt road seems to end, and a pair of switchbacks lifts you higher up the hillside.  The switchbacks are steeper and rockier than the old road, but taking your time with careful stepping will get you up the switchbacks.  At 1.35 miles, you reach the base of Emory Gap Falls.

Emory Gap Falls

            Emory Gap Falls is taller and much less standard than Debord Falls: a single drop of about 10 feet is followed by a myriad of cascades through a boulder field.  Also, finding a good spot to view and photograph this waterfall can be a challenge due to the boulders.  The Emory Gap Trail ends at Emory Gap Falls, so after enjoying the waterfall your only option is to turn around and retrace your steps to the parking lot to complete the hike.

Hiwassee Scenic River State Park: Gee Creek Campground Loop (Blog Hike #1062)

Trail: Gee Creek Campground Loop
Hike Location: Hiwassee Scenic River State Park
Geographic Location: south of Etowah, TN (35.23775, -84.55063)
Length: 1.3 miles
Difficulty: 1/10 (Easy)
Date Hiked: March 2025
Overview: A lollipop loop around Gee Creek Campground and along the Hiwassee River.
Park Information: https://tnstateparks.com/parks/hiwassee-river
Hike Route Map:

On The Go Map

Photo Highlight:

Hike Video:

Directions to the trailhead: From Etowah, take US 411 south 6.4 miles to Spring Creek Road and turn left on Spring Creek Rd.  Drive Spring Creek Rd. east 0.8 miles to the park office on the right.  Park in the large blacktop parking lot beside the park office.

The hike: Early European explorers wrote of 2 major rivers that flowed west out of the mountains and into the great valley in present-day southeast Tennessee.  The first river was a quaint river that can be crossed almost anywhere almost anytime.  The second river was a raging beast of a river that can be crossed almost nowhere and almost none of the time.  Today we call the quaint river the Ocoee River, and we call the beastly river the Hiwassee River.

            A few miles up the Hiwassee River from the confluence of these 2 rivers lies a park named for both rivers: Hiwassee/Ocoee Scenic River State Park.  At present the park is located only on the Hiwassee River, but future plans call for adding acreage and splitting this park into 2 parks, one along each river.  The present site is surrounded on 3 sides by Cherokee National Forest, and it features only the Gee Creek Campground with 47 developed sites, Hiwassee River access, and the short hiking trail described here.  While definitely not the best trail in this area, the Gee Creek Campground Loop offers good Hiwassee River views, and it makes a nice add-on if you are camping here or hiking in nearby Cherokee National Forest.

Fort Marr blockhouse

            You can start the trail from either the campground or the park office.  I was not camping here, so I started at the park office.  Beside the park office stands an interesting historical landmark: the Fort Marr Blockhouse.  Fort Marr was built in 1814 to protect the area from the British during the War of 1812, but it soon became the center for military operations to remove Cherokee people from Tennessee to Oklahoma.  The fort was abandoned in 1838, and the blockhouse was moved twice to reach this location, which is about 15 miles from the original fort.  This blockhouse is this region's only remnant of any fort from that era.

Trailhead at park office

            After viewing the blockhouse, walk east across the parking lot to find where the single-track dirt trail enters the woods.  A small wooden sign that says "Loop Trail" marks this trailhead.  The trail heads east through young forest with a dense shrubby understory.  Plenty of sweet gum trees live in this forest, as do some old dying red cedars.  This land is persistently flat, and the total elevation gain on this hike is less than 100 feet.

Trail splits to form loop

            At only 0.1 miles, the trail forks to form its loop around Gee Creek Campground.  I angled left and used the trail going right as my return route, thus hiking the loop clockwise.  The trail continues its southeast course, and just past 0.2 miles it crosses the campground entrance road.  The section of the trail north of the campground passes through a wetland area with a ditch, and a few minor wet areas will need to be negotiated if it has rained recently.  I did some good bird viewing here that included some cardinals and a woodpecker.

Hiking north of the campground

            Just shy of 0.5 miles, the trail crosses the ditch on a footbridge and heads around the east end of the campground.  Although the campground is fairly close on the right, dense woods keeps the campground out of your field of vision most of the time.  Just past 0.6 miles, the Hiwassee River comes into view on the left for the first time.  The river was high and raging on my visit due to recent rains, but the water was still remarkably clear.

Hiwassee River

            The riverside segment is the most scenic part of this hike.  At 0.9 miles, you cross over a riverside bluff and pass the park's boat ramp.  The southwest corner of the loop was somewhat overgrown on my visit, and I had to negotiate several blowdowns across the trail.  Look for the white plastic shield-like trail markers to make sure you are still on the trail.

Primitive campground

            Just past 1 mile, you come out at the park's primitive campground.  Angle right to walk along the gravel primitive campground road and then look to the left to find the continuation of the trail.  A few hundred feet later, you close the loop.  Angle left to return to the park office and complete the hike.