Jackie Steffan — 2.5 miles — 1.5 hours — Moderate — 675′ elevation gain —
Margarette Falls (also spelled Marguerite Falls) was one of the first hikes we tried in this area. It’s not far outside of Greeneville, TN, but feels like you are in the middle of nowhere. The falls is 60′ tall and is one of the more consistent waterfalls for flows year-round. The drive to the trailhead is also beautiful.
Getting There
From I-26
- Take Exit 13 and get onto TN-75 S (towards the Gray Fossil Museum and Jonesborough) and drive 11.2 miles
- Turn left to stay on TN-75S and continue 4.4 miles
- Turn right on US-11E S / US 321 S and travel 8.3 miles
- Turn left onto TN-107E / Tusculum Bypass and drive 2.7 miles
- Turn right onto TN-351 S and travel 2.2 miles
- Turn left onto John Bird Rd. and drive 0.3 mile
- Turn right onto Sentelle Rd. and drive 2.3 miles
- Turn left onto Greystone Rd. and drive 0.1 mile
- Keep right to continue on Greystone Rd. and travel 1.4 miles
- Turn right and travel 0.3 mile
- Continue straight onto Shelton Mission Rd. for 1.1 miles to reach large parking lot on right
The Hike
Before getting into the hike details, we must describe our unfortunate endeavor at this trailhead. We decided to put on our hiking shoes on a large rock near the trailhead and unknowingly disturbed a bee’s nest in the ground directly under us. We got stung a few times and even had to return at night to recover some items left in the swarm since they were still angry after our hike, hours later.
So, we’d recommend taking a wide berth around the large parking lot border rocks on the edge of the woods to the left of the trailhead. Besides this one-off issue, this trail is wonderful and we haven’t had any issues the many other times we’ve attempted this one.
Margarette Falls trail starts on a wide gravel trail. This will continue for 0.5 mile, starting to parallel Dry Creek towards the end of this stretch. This first half mile is about 180′ elevation gain, warming you up for the rest of the hike. You’ll reach a large gravel opening with a hiking information sign with several trail intersections.
Continue right, cross a small creek crossing, and then keep left at another trail split. From this point on, the trail will follow West Fork Dry Creek until you reach the falls. After approximately 0.3 mile, you will reach a beautiful metal bridge crossing over West Fork Dry Creek.
After another approximately 0.2 mile, you will reach a creek crossing that will involve rock-hopping. If flows are high, you might get your feet a little wet. We’ve visited many times and only once has water been high enough to get our soles wet, but nothing more. Fortunately, if flows are too high, there is a nice little cascade to enjoy just before the stream crossing.
You will reach 60′ Margarette Falls in another 0.2 miles. From the trail split, this 3/4 mile has about 500′ elevation gain. There are some large rocks to scramble around and find a nice vantage point for a rest. There is a very steep social trail that ascends the hill to the right of the waterfall. Apparently others have mentioned that there may be another small falls above, but we’ve never decided to venture far enough since we’ve chosen to just enjoy the main falls.
Simply re-trace your steps back to the trailhead when ready to return.
There are other trailheads from this parking area, Bullen Hollow and Phillips Hollow, which we will explore and detail at a later time.
