About this spot
Baby Falls is a 15-20 foot ledge spanning the width of the Tellico River in Cherokee National Forest, one of the Southeast's best-documented cliff-jumping spots. Reach it via the Cherohala Skyway (TN-165) to River Road (FS-210), about 6.5 miles to a paved day-use lot with picnic tables and a vault toilet — free, no permit needed. Jumpers leap from the rock ledge atop the falls into the river's current below, a well-established local tradition covered by numerous swimming-hole guides, Tripadvisor and Yelp reviews, and paddling reports. The hazard that matters: spring snowmelt and heavy rain turn the current genuinely dangerous, with strong hydraulics at the base, so locals recommend summer low-water visits only. It's legal and popular, but unsupervised — know the river before you jump.
