Morgan’s Steep Falls in January 2016

I decided to take a trip to northern Alabama to see waterfalls, and ended up in Tennessee in the process. One of the first falls I tried to find was called Falls Mill Falls, and as I pulled up, I found out that it is closed for part of the winter. I then headed off to Sewanee, as I had a reservation at the Sewanee Inn, which is a very nice place to decide to stay. I was tired, so I ended up napping…and I never really thought I should check to see if there are any waterfalls in the area!

The next morning, as I was looking in my book of Tennessee waterfalls, I then discovered that there were a few waterfalls within 1 mile of my location! I could have been exploring those the day before! I still decided to check out one of the falls in the area.

There are at least three falls within a short distance of each other in Sewanee. The one you see here is Morgan’s Steep Falls, which is very easy to observe. The other two are Proctor Falls and Bridal Veil Falls, which I didn’t visit because they required longer hikes (and I hadn’t eaten yet). Each of those falls are found by hiking in opposite directions from Morgan’s Steep Falls.

Morgan’s Steep Falls isn’t the tallest or maybe even the prettiest waterfall, but because it’s so easy to get to, I would recommend stopping. From the (what I think was) a gravel parking area, it was a short 0.1 mile hike down some steps to see Morgan’s Steep Falls. Getting a good view of the falls did require a little bit of maneuvering, but even younger kids should be able to handle this falls. And as a side note, if you don’t like this waterfall, there are many other waterfalls in the area! Check those ones out too!

Directions:

1. From US-41A, turn onto University Avenue (which forms a loop that connects back into US-41A).
2. Drive along University Avenue to South Carolina Avenue.
3. Turn onto South Caroline Avenue. Drive along South Carolina Avenue to the junction with Laurel Drive.
4. You can really take either direction, as another loop is formed. If you take a left along Laurel Drive (more like veering left), you’ll end up circling back onto South Carolina Avenue later.
5. The parking area for the falls is found at the end of this loop (or at least what I think was the parking area). It was a gravel area. (Make sure not to park on any private residences.)
6. From there, go back to the trailhead. There is a sign for Bridal Veil Falls, but you want to take the stairs down to the other trail. Keep going along that path, and you will shortly arrive at Morgan’s Steep Falls.

Accessibility: 8/10 (stairs and a bit of maneuvering)
Length of Hike: 0.2 miles round-trip
Height: ~10′

Where in the World is Morgan’s Steep Falls?