Center Hill Lake Boating to Burgess and Fancher Falls 2025

 

Center Hill Lake Boating to Burgess and Fancher Falls 2025

Sunday Aug. 10, 2025

Kenny & Dana Koogler

Sharon McGee 

Photos are HERE 

Directions to all the falls HERE 

  We had talked the idea of going to Burgess and Fancher Falls to death.   Our kids were invited but bailed on us so we decided to just go for it.  We made plans with friend Sharon to take the dog and go.

Rick was invited, but had to work.    We met Sharon at the TA Truckstop in Cookeville and car pooled from there.    We made it to the Cookeville Boat Dock and stayed with the truck while Kenny went to pay and park.     It was a weekend so it was busy, but not overly so.   Kenny put the boat in and we loaded it up with our stuff for the day.  He took the truck and boat trailer to park them.   It wasn't long until we were under way and heading to Fancher Falls as it is closest to the dock.   We managed to get there fine, but the water levels were dubious.  Kenny erred on the side of caution and we  had to walk a bit further than last time.   It isn't an easy walk as you are on a side hill covered in rip rap sized rocks, tree roots, blown down trees, weeds to crawl over and under.   It was a short, but painfully slow walk to get to where we could just walk in the stream.       Fancher Falls was flowing wonderfully today!

  Mist Falls next to it was also flowing, but not as  heavily as it was on a previous visit.  It was still pretty and worth a look.    We saw plenty of people at Fancher Falls, but it was not crowded.   Turned out a lot of the people there left shortly after we arrived.   They'd seen the sights and were ready to move on.     

Below: Looking up at Mist Falls

Below: where the falls strikes the lower rocks 

Below: the pool at Mist Falls is so clear 

Below: Mist Falls taken as a whole 

Below: Fancher Falls with lots of people around 

Below: Fancher Falls with the least people in the shot.  

Below: me swimming up to Fancher Falls with the Go Pro

Below: photo taken from the swimming hole looking back at Sharon with the Go Pro and its water proof case.  

Below is a video of Fancher and Mist Falls from our visit 

   Once we got done checking things out at Fancher Falls and I was at last ready to stop swimming and get out... we found Kenny had brought the pontoon a little closer.  Getting back to the boat was far easier than getting to the falls.   We were thankful for that.   Once aboard we headed out into the main part of the lake. We looked for a shady spot to have lunch.   People were buzzing by on jet skis, wave runners, kayaks, stand up paddle boards, and bass boats.  We saw a couple other pontoons.   We finished eating and headed next toward Burgess Falls. A steady stream of kayakers was heading to the falls and away from them as well. It made for slow going, but no matter.  We were not in a hurry.   

      We got within approximately 1/4 mile of Burgess Falls to find that the pontoon boat wasn't going to get us there today.  The water level was too low to proceed.  It was dangerous in fact.   Loads of flotsam, a scum on the surface of the water and a wide swath of lime green duck weed covered the water surface.   Slippery, submerged rocks were everywhere.   Tree stumps and other submerged objects could be seen.  The water was too fouled to get in to swim to the falls. Plus it wasn't really deep enough to swim.   It was unsafe to wade. The banks were waist high weeds on one side.  The other side was a shoal covered in thick, deep mud and tree trunks.   Kenny was determined. More determined that he should have been.   We wanted to reach the falls, but more than we wanted that... we wanted to NOT be stranded on the lake with a damaged pontoon boat and have to paddle back to the boat dock.   It took the equivalent of a seventeen point turn on the lake to get us heading the right way again.   The prop kept hitting floating sticks and debris. I just knew it was going to break.  Thankfully it didn't.  We eventually got turned and headed into clear, deeper water.     All we wanted then was to get safely away from all this mess.   We will return and try when water levels are higher in Spring.   We learned our lesson today. Just because we had made it there before at this time of year did not guarantee success today.   

     

Above Captain Kenny at the helm

Below:  the cove just past Johnson's Chapel Recreation Area

Last thing of the day we went round to Johnson's Chapel Recreation Area.   We wanted to check this out. It was very nice. It has a roped off beach with sand.   It has picnic tables and grills. It also has a small dock for getting out.  We didn't make use of this spot today, but we know it is there and very nice. We can have that in mind for future trips.   We did pull over near Johnson's Chapel into a cove and got in the lake to swim.  It was awesome!  Otey got in with his life jacket, but I had to give him a little push on the butt to get him to jump in.  The lake was warm as bath water and smelled fresh and clean.  

We saw few other people in our area.   It was a nice afternoon of swimming and fellowship.

  Finally we headed back to the boat dock and got everything including the pontoon out of the water.  We tried to figure how we could all go somewhere and dine outdoors because of Otey being along.  We didn't really figure it out so we said our good byes and headed home.   It was a good day.  It didn't all go to plan, but we learned some things.   We need to figure out how to use the portable dressing room on the pontoon.  It has never been assembled.  The curtain was still in the packaging.   I had to drape towels on doors and carefully change clothes in the parking lot. I managed to do it discreetly today so that was good.