Lost Creek Falls Natural Area is attached to the 57,000-acre “Mid-Cumberland Recreation Area.” We’ve driven past this area near Sparta, TN, many times and missed the opportunity to explore a rocky land where falls and cascades appear from large springs or collapsed caves and disappear into sinkholes.
Lost Creek Falls gushes from a large spring at the top, spills into a giant sink, vanishes into the cliff face at the bottom right, and re-emerges then disappears from many parts of Lost Creek’s stream bed.
The 40-foot falls are a short walk from a gravel parking lot with two porta-potties.
Sharing the giant sinkhole with Lost Creek Falls is the massive Lost Creek Cave, one of the largest in Tennessee. The cave has five entrances and boasts seven miles of charted passages. The cave is closed from September through May for bat hibernation and the swarming season but may be explored during the summer with a free state park permit. In 1994, Disney filmed “Jungle Book” scenes using the falls and the cave entrance.
The Rylander Cascade trailhead is a quarter mile south down White’s Cave Road from the Lost Creek Falls’ exit. The cascade’s water flows from a spring and Lost Creek from above, then tumbles down the rocks and is swallowed by a sink behind giant boulders.
The drive off Hwy. 111 past Spencer, TN, meanders through gorgeous and prosperous-looking farmland on paved country roads to the Lost Creek Falls and Cave Trailhead. It took us an hour and 20 minutes to reach the falls from Chattanooga.
After our hikes, we wound our way down back roads through lush meadows for 20 minutes to Sparta.
Calfkiller Brewing Company is our favorite brewery, and we make an effort to visit when we are in the area. They are only open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 pm. Brothers Don and Dave Sergio brew some of the best beer on the planet. Mrs. Sergio runs the taps and told us that day drinkers are more civilized than late-night imbibers.
Customers are encouraged to bring their food. We did not pack enough for Sergio’s friendly dog, who tends to the guests and parking lot. We’ll be back for more adventures among the hardwoods, wildflowers, Spring Ferns, and mosses in this scenic area.