My second stop on my way home from the Race to the Cave Half-Marathon at Cathedral Caverns State Park takes me to Noccalula Falls State Park to visit another mighty waterfall. This one is surrounded by a Native American legend. This one is much more developed than my last stop with a large paved parking lot, paved walking trails, picnic facilities, and even a walking bridge across the across Black Creek, from which the falls plummets.
The water fall itself is approximately 90 feet tall and allows the rushing creek waters to descend to a lower section of land and continue their journey. A large overhang has been carved out behind the waterfall. Unfortunately, there is far too many signs of man here. I really wish we would leave these natural wonders alone and simply taken in their natural beauty as we find it.
Legends tell of the young Cherokee woman, Noccalula, for which the falls is named. As the story goes, she was ordered by her father to marry a Creek brave, whom she did not love. The Cherokee had been pushed west into Creek territory by white settlers, and the marriage was though to be a peacekeeping measure. Noccalula had other ideas though and threw herself over the falls to avoid the loveless marriage. A bronze statue now memorializes here plunge.
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