Debord Falls

Debord Falls is one of those waterfalls best viewed after a good rain or during early spring. To reach Debord Falls drive into the entrance to Frozen Head State Park and take the road until it dead ends into the parking lot for the Panther Branch Trail.

The trail is wide, but has some rocky and rooty parts. There is a creek near the beginning of the trail, if the water is low here, it will be low at Debord Falls. Right away, the trail crosses the Flat Fork on a concrete bridge and continues following it. Most of the small tributaries have  wooden bridges to cross over on this section of the trail. At 0.6 miles, you will reach the short side trail leading to Debord Falls. Go to the right to view the falls.

It will bring you to an observation deck view of the falls. After passing the observation deck, you will see a wooden staircase on your right that descends to the base of the falls.

After viewing Debord Falls return to the main trail, return the way you came to reach the parking lot.

When we visited Debord Falls there had been some recent rain, but apparently not enough and the water flow was low. The park ranger told us that if the water was low at Debord Falls, then it would be even lower at Emory Gap Falls and that it may not be worth the extra hike unless you just wanted to hike. We elected to return to the parking lot.

Should you want to continue on to view Emory Gap Falls, returned to the main trail and continue another 0.7 miles until you reach the junction of Panther Branch trail and the Emory Gap spur trail. At this junction make sure to take the Emory Gap trail straight, and not go over the bridge to your right. From here it is another 0.5 miles to Emory Gap Falls.

Please note that there is a lot of mosquitos in this park. It is also common to see copperhead snakes and woodland rattlers.

There are restrooms located at the park office at 964 Flat Fork Road, Wartburg, TN 37887.

Other nearby waterfalls include Potter’s Falls and Lower Potter’s Falls. They are not much of a hike, but they are pretty and had a lot more water the day we visited.