Natural Areas - East Region

Bays Mountain is a 3,000-acre natural area located six miles from downtown Kingsport in Sullivan and Hawkins Counties, along the crest and inside slopes of Holston River Mountain and Bays Mountain.

Campbell Bend Barrens is a 35-acre natural area in the Ridge and Valley Physiographic Province of East Tennessee. Campbell Bend is approximately one mile to the northeast of Crowder Cemetery in Roane County.

The Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lee Carter Natural Area is a 375-acre natural area located in Franklin County that is part of the South Cumberland Recreation Area. A significant cave system extends from Lost Cove to the head of Crow Creek.

Colditz Cove is a 165-acre natural area located approximately two miles east of Allardt in Fentress County. Its most impressive feature is Northrup Falls, which is one of Tennessee’s most stunning waterfalls plunging more than 60 feet over a protruding rock ledge into a scenic, narrow, gorge along Big Branch Creek.

Crowder Cemetery Barrens is a 15-acre natural area in the Ridge and Valley Physiographic Province of East Tennessee. Crowder Cemetery Barrens is approximately one mile to the southwest of Campbell Bend Barrens in Roane County.

Fall Creek Falls is a 16,181-acre natural area located within Fall Creek Falls State Park in Bledsoe and Van Buren counties. Its waterfalls, cascades, sparkling streams, gorges, forests, and cave features make it one of the most visited natural areas and state parks in the southeast.

Falling Water Falls is a 136-acre natural area in Hamilton County. It is named for the 110 foot high waterfall on Little Falling Water Creek that drops over the resistant sandstone cap of the Cumberland Plateau.

Frozen Head Class I (8,620 acres) and Class II (6,530 acres) state natural areas are located in Morgan County. An additional 7,650 acres comprises Frozen Head State Park. Frozen Head is one of the crown jewels of Tennessee’s Cumberland Mountain range.

Grundy Forest is a 234-acre natural area located in Grundy County. The area features cascading streams, waterfalls, rockhouses, rock formations, hemlock cove forest, dry upland pine forest, and steep cliffs.

Hawkins Cove is a 249-acre natural area located in Franklin County. The State purchased Hawkins Cove to protect a population of Cumberland rosinweed (Silphium brachiatum), a type of sunflower found only on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee.

Hampton Creek Cove is a 693-acre natural area located in Carter County outside of the town of Roan Mountain near Roan Mountain State Park. The Cove is in the Southern Appalachian mountains between 3,000 to 4,800 feet elevation.

Hick's Gap is a 350-acre natural area in Marion County. The natural area occurs along the slopes of the Cumberland Plateau Escarpment in the Tennessee River Gorge just outside of Chattanooga.

Honey Creek is a 109-acre natural area in Pickett County. One of its most outstanding features is the incredibly scenic overlook 250 feet above the South Fork of Cumberland River.

House Mountain is a 500-acre natural area located in Knox County approximately 15 miles from Knoxville. It is a favorite place for birdwatchers. The 2,100-foot crest of House Mountain provides significant vistas for visitors to scan the parallel ranges of the Unakas and Cumberlands.

Laurel-Snow is a 2,259-acre natural area located in Rhea County. The natural area occurs on the Walden Ridge of the Cumberland Plateau and contains a section of gorge that is deeply dissected by Morgan, Henderson, Laurel, and Richland Creeks.

Lost Creek State Natural Area is a diverse area situated on the western flank of the Cumberland Plateau.  Its scenic highlight is the beautiful Lost Creek Falls in White County. 

Natural Bridge is a three-acre natural area located in Franklin County. Natural Bridge is a 25 feet high natural sandstone arch with a span of 50 feet that provides a scenic overlook of Lost Cove.

North Chickamauga Creek is a 7,093-acre natural area located in Hamilton and Sequatchie Counties. It is an outstanding deep gorge cut into the sandstone plateau of Walden's Ridge on the Cumberland Plateau.

Ozone Falls is a 43-acre natural area in Cumberland County. Ozone Falls plunges 110 feet over a sandstone cap rock into a deep blue, rock-strewn pool. Because of its picturesque beauty and easy access, Ozone Falls was selected for filming scenes for the movie “Jungle Book.”

Piney Falls is a 440-acre natural area located in Rhea County where Little Piney and Soak Creek have carved deep gorges into the Cumberland Plateau. It is a pristine forest land featuring creeks, deep gorges, waterfalls and old growth forest. 

Pogue Creek Canyon is a 3,000-acre natural area located on the Cumberland Plateau in Fentress County. The topography and plant communities are characteristic of the Cumberland Plateau with rich forests and scenic sandstone formations.

The Powell River Preserve is a 15-acre natural area located in Claiborne County bordering the Powell River. The most distinctive communities at the Powell River Preserve are the northern white cedar shrub community and white cedar mixed hardwood community.

Roundtop Mountain is a 237-acre natural area located in the southwest corner of Sevier County, west of Wears Cove Gap and east-northeast of Townsend. It forms a section of the northwest boundary of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

Rugby is a 667-acre state natural area located southwest of the town of Historic Rugby in Morgan County on the Cumberland Plateau. Little Creek drains through the property and drops into White Oak Creek, which empties into the Big South Fork of the Cumberland River.

Savage Gulf is 15,590-acre natural area located in Grundy and Sequatchie Counties. Carved like a giant crowfoot into the western edge of the Cumberland Plateau, it is one of Tennessee's most scenic wilderness areas.

Stinging Fork Falls is a 783-acre natural area located in Rhea County. It is named for the 30-foot waterfall located within the Stinging Fork gorge. The creek flows over the fan shaped falls, then quickly slips through chutes, and tumbles over cascades below the falls.

Twin Arches is a 1,500-acre natural area in parts of Fentress, Scott, and Pickett Counties. It contains two impressive geological formations known as the Twin Arches, that form the largest natural bridge complex known in Tennessee.

Watauga River Bluffs is a 50-acre natural area located in Carter County. Its most conspicuous feature is the steep slope that drops more than 200 feet to the river's edge. The slope and the narrow bluffs make up most of the 50 acres.

William L. Davenport Refuge is 120-acre natural area in Polk County. The land exists within the Copper Basin and is ecologically exceptional due to the occurrence of a rare Southern Appalachian bog community.