Waterfalls near Chattanooga, Tennessee

How the list breaks down

Only Ruby, DeSoto and Fall Creek Falls sit inside 50 miles, so this page uses a 75-mile circle that crosses into Alabama and Georgia. Tennessee has Ruby, Fall Creek, Rutledge, Machine, Bald River and Burgess Falls. Alabama has DeSoto and Little River Falls, and Georgia has Amicalola Falls.

Two of the nine are only partly open. Amicalola Falls has its East Ridge Trail closed for maintenance (undated notice, checked October 27, 2026), though the West Ridge path is open. At Burgess Falls, the latest park update we found (April 3, 2026) says the main overlook is open and the gorge is closed.

Foster Falls, which other Chattanooga lists include, has no page in this guide yet, so it is not on the map or in the table.

Tennessee's other falls are in the Tennessee waterfalls guide.

Ruby Falls: what the ticket covers

Ruby Falls is a private attraction inside Lookout Mountain, so it works differently from the park falls on this list.

• Tickets: timed-entry and sold online only, with no walk-up sales on site. The adult Cave Walk is $29.95. The Ruby Falls guide lists the other prices.
• The walk: a 260-ft elevator ride down, then a guided cave walk of just under a mile round trip.
• Access: the cave is not wheelchair or stroller accessible, though the overlook, plaza, shop and café are. Only service animals may enter the cave.
• Season: the cave stays about 60°F all year. Holidays at Ruby Falls runs November 27 to December 24, 2026.

Ruby Falls does not publish a height, and published figures disagree, so this guide doesn't list one.

Free falls and what the others charge

Costs on this list run from nothing to $29.95 a person.

• Free: Fall Creek Falls (no entry or parking fee) and Little River Falls (no charge for the area, per NPS). Burgess Falls is also free (no entry fee; we found no parking fee). Burgess is only partly open, with the gorge closed as of the April 3, 2026 park update. Rutledge Falls is free too, per TNVacation, though it sits on private land.
• No fee listed: Bald River Falls, per its Forest Service page, and Machine Falls, per TDEC.
• $5 per vehicle: parking at the DeSoto Falls Picnic Area, or a $50 annual pass valid for that picnic area only.
• $10 per vehicle: the Georgia State Park Pass at Amicalola Falls.
• $29.95 per adult: the Ruby Falls Cave Walk.

Little River Canyon's $15 day pass applies only to the Canyon Mouth Park Day-Use Area, not to the falls.

Water levels at the Alabama falls

The two Alabama falls depend on rain, so timing matters as much as distance.

• DeSoto Falls: Alabama State Parks says the falls are sometimes dry in summer and fall. Parking often fills on weekends, there is no overflow, and the area closes at dusk. The park says GPS is not reliable here, so use its written directions.
• Little River Falls: NPS lists winter and early spring for high flow, with low water in summer and early fall. The 100-car lot is often full by 11 a.m. (CST) on late-spring and summer weekends.

Swimming at Little River is not banned, but it is dangerous. NPS warns you can be carried over the falls in seconds, and says many rescues and even deaths have occurred. It requires you to stay at least 50 ft from the edge.

Pairing falls by area: Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia

Straight-line miles don't tell you how roads connect these falls, so check a route before you pair any two.

• Northeast Alabama: DeSoto Falls (41 straight-line miles) is near Mentone, with about 50 concrete steps to its overlook. Little River Falls (51 straight-line miles) is near Fort Payne, with an ADA boardwalk to the main overlook. Both falls pages list DeKalb County.
• Fall Creek Falls (42 straight-line miles): an overlook beside the parking lot, plus the Base of Falls Trail, about 0.35 miles each way and rated difficult.
• Rutledge Falls (56 straight-line miles): a 0.2-mile walk near Tullahoma, on private land the owners keep open to the public. TNVacation says "There is no fee to hike to the falls." It lists the trail as open dawn to dusk, year-round, so it is open, as far as we can tell (read Nov 4, 2026).
• Machine Falls (58 straight-line miles): a drop of more than 60 ft in Short Springs State Natural Area, also near Tullahoma. TDEC lists no fee. On Nov 6, 2026, its page said public access is allowed, so it is open, as far as we can tell. Parking is extremely limited, and the site is at capacity when the designated spots are full.
• Burgess Falls (70 straight-line miles): a 1.5-mile loop past four waterfalls, rated moderately strenuous. It is partly open, with the gorge closed and the stairs to the base removed, per the April 3, 2026 update.
• Bald River Falls (63 straight-line miles): a roadside view from a bridge on Tellico River Road near Tellico Plains.
• Amicalola Falls (67 straight-line miles): a paved accessible path to overlooks, or a 604-step climb. The East Ridge Trail is closed, but the West Ridge path is open.

At Fall Creek Falls State Park, the Piney Falls and Millikan's Overlook trails are closed after the August 2023 tornado. The Lower Loop Trail is also closed, and an undated park page lists the Cable Trail as closed.

Waterfalls near Chattanooga: FAQ