We began this hike in the late afternoon, thinking we would have plenty of time to get to our tent site. The hike was labeled strenuous, which we thought was more about the mileage of almost 10 miles. Perhaps a few hills. Little did we know!! This was truly one of the most rugged terrain we have been on in Tennessee.
We ended up hiking a few miles in the dark and set up our tent in a different location than intended. However, everything was better when we pulled out the marshmallows we had packed as the soup cooked. The next day, we explored the magnificent Virgin Falls and I literally wept. The force of this dynamic creation stopped us physically in our tracks. We came back up the hill and hiked up to the top of the Falls and just took it all in.
Our second night, we had plenty of time to set up our hammock, explore and relax! There are a couple of offshoot trails to explore- and various structures to see along the way. When we exited the trail, there was a ranger there who also recommended a quick drive up the road and we were told to park and walk to the view. OH MY WORD!!!! That�s all I�m going to say about it�
Definitely a top favorite so far!