The waterfall
Old Falls
Twenty feet tall, thirty feet wide, spring-fed, and running year-round on the Cavender branch of Lick Creek. Documented in the state's waterfall guidebook, and sitting on private ground in a hollow outside Lyles.
On the record
A waterfall with a name
Old Falls is the official name of this waterfall, formed by the natural springs that feed the Cavender branch of Lick Creek in eastern Hickman County, Tennessee. It appears in Gregory Plumb's Waterfalls of Tennessee — the standard catalog of the state's falls — along with a scattering of unofficial waterfall sites and social media accounts.
Middle Tennessee has plenty of water, but very little of it is both named and private. Most cataloged falls in the region sit inside state parks with parking lots and posted hours. This one sits behind a gate.
The details
What to know about the falls
Size & flow
About 20 feet tall and 30 feet wide. Spring-fed, so it runs all year rather than drying out in late summer the way rain-fed falls do.
Water source
The Cavender branch of Lick Creek, fed by natural springs in the surrounding hollow, in eastern Hickman County.
Access
Private property — no trailhead and no public parking. Guests reach it on foot from the house, a few steps from the porch.
Seeing it
How to visit
Old Falls is not open to the public, and there is no way to see it from the road. The two ways in are as an overnight guest at the Waterfall House, or by booking the grounds for an evening as a private dinner venue.
It is also the setting for elopements and micro-weddings. The gallery has the closest thing to being there.
Good to know
Common questions
- Where is Old Falls?
- On the Cavender branch of Lick Creek in eastern Hickman County, near Lyles, Tennessee — about an hour southwest of Nashville.
- How tall is Old Falls?
- Roughly 20 feet tall and 30 feet wide, fed by natural springs that form the Cavender branch of Lick Creek.
- Is Old Falls open to the public?
- No. Old Falls is on private property. You can see it as a guest — by staying at the Waterfall House or booking the grounds for a private dinner — but there is no public access or trailhead.
- When is the waterfall at its best?
- It runs year-round from spring-fed flow. Volume peaks after winter and spring rain; October brings the best color around it, and summer evenings are the most comfortable to sit beside.
- Is it in the waterfall guidebooks?
- Yes — Old Falls is documented in Gregory Plumb's Waterfalls of Tennessee, the standard reference for the state.
Come stand next to it
The photographs get close. The sound is the part that doesn't travel.