The Canyon Waterfall Hike In Tennessee That Will Overwhelm You With Natural Beauty
By Meghan Kraft|Published September 11, 2018
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Meghan Kraft
Author
Meghan Kraft loves to travel the world, but she makes her home right here in Nashville, Tennessee. She holds a degree in English, and has worked in the digital marketing realm with companies such as Apartments.com, USA Today and HarperCollins Publishing.
Tennessee is full of natural wonders, and you can usually tell where they are simply by following the crowds. Cades Cove, Foster Falls, and a whole plethora of others are absolutely beautiful, but they also tend to come with quite a few other people enjoying their beauty. There’s one spot in Southern Tennessee, though, that is equally breathtaking but is often completely deserted. This hidden canyon requires 10 miles of round-trip hiking to get to, but once you see it, you’ll know it was worth the trip.
You'll follow the creek through the woods back up into the rocky hills from where it emanates, and you'll even get to cross this log bridge(!), but you'll soon see the walls lurking through the trees.
When you find the canyon, you'll know why it's called the Walls of Jericho. The rocky cliff faces seem unnaturally foreboding. The name was bestowed on the spot in the early 1800s when an itinerant preacher took up residence in the canyon. The place was so powerful that folks thought it needed a powerful, biblical name.
According to local legend, the spot was once a favorite haunt of Tennessee native son Davy Crockett. It's said that his initials are even still carved in to a few rocks and trees in and around the canyon, if you know where to look.
To hike in and hike back out, you're looking at an 8-10 mile hike, so this one is definitely an all-day journey, but it's so worth the effort. You can get to the trailhead in Tennessee by plugging in this address, which will take you to where the pull-off is from the main road. 15873 Rowe Gap Road, Sherwood, TN.