DAY RIDE TO BURGESS FALLS

On Wednesday, July 30, 2014, we took another Day Ride. Our destination was Burgess Falls in Middle Tennessee.

After a record breaking cold night, it felt more like a fall morning than mid summer. We both wore jackets, cold weather gloves, our 3/4 pilot helmets and packed our chaps just in case we needed them.

Jeff talks about our ride plan in this short video:

We left our home at 9:45am. It was 59 degrees with beautiful blue skies. We took 129 south on Alcoa Highway toward Maryville. From Maryville, we took 411 south to Vonore where we stopped to fill our tanks and get a snack.

After our quick stop we took 411 to Madisonville where we took 68 through Sweetwater, then onto Watts Bar Dam and into Spring City.

In Spring City we continued on 68 West which winds up Walden Ridge with beautiful sweeping curves and scenic overlooks. 68 took us into Crossville.

From Crossville, we took 70 west toward Sparta. Before arriving in Sparta, we stopped at the overlook off 70.

After enjoying the view, we got back on the bikes and rode 70 west to Sparta.

We stopped in at Yanni’s Grille in Sparta for lunch.

Yanni's Grille in Sparta, TN. — Yanni’s Grille in Sparta, TN.

Inside Yanni's. A great place to dine. — Inside Yanni’s. A great place to dine.

Great food at Yannie's! — Great food and great service at Yanni’s!

After lunch we fueled up our bikes, rode to the edge of Sparta and took 111 north a few miles to 135 Burgess Falls Road.

I changed out of my boots into tennis shoes for the hike.

We arrived at Burgess Falls State Park right at 3pm about 165 miles into our trip. We parked in the paved lot that was over half full with visitors. A nice restroom area was available and the park had nicely visible trail markers.

Jeff talks about our arrival in this short video:

After changing my shoes, we headed off on the 3/4 mile hike to the falls.

Halfway to Burgess Falls is the Middle Falls.

Here is a short video about the hike so far:

We made several videos at the falls:

We take the service road back to the parking lot.

The service road is just off the parking lot. It's an alternative to the hiking trail. — The service road is just off the parking lot. It’s an alternative to the hiking trail.

It took about an hour for us to hike to the Falls and back. When we got back to the parking lot, we checked out the public restrooms which were very nice. Then we looked at the water one last time before getting back on the bikes.

We got back on the bikes and took 135 back toward Sparta. We then took 136 north to Cookeville where we jumped on 70N heading east. 70N took us into Monterey and then into Crossville where we stopped at McDonald’s for some caffeine.