This Beautiful Waterfall Is Often known as the ‘Niagara Falls of the South’—and It Has a Uncommon Lunar Rainbow Throughout Full Moons

You’ll discover waterfalls throughout the nation, from North Carolina to Yellowstone. And one of the breathtaking waterfalls is discovered within the small city of Corbin, Kentucky, also referred to as the house of Kentucky Fried Rooster. 

Cumberland Falls, positioned in Cumberland Falls State Resort Park, is 68 ft tall and 125 ft vast, and, as state park supervisor Maggy Monhollen tells Journey + Leisure, it’s the “largest waterfall east of the Mississippi, south of the Niagara Falls.” 

Whereas its dimension is definitely spectacular—it is the explanation for the nickname the “Niagara of the South”—probably the most attention-grabbing side of this water characteristic is definitely its moonbow. Produced when moonlight is refracted via water droplets, the white or lunar rainbow solely seems in full moon circumstances when the sky is evident. And, sure, it’s a photographer’s dream. 

What to Do

You don’t essentially have to go to throughout a full moon (or keep up late) to expertise Cumberland Falls State Resort Park, after all. Monhollen calls it a real “one-stop store” with one thing for each sort of outdoorsy traveler. “At 1,000 acres and surrounded by 800,000 acres of Daniel Boone Nationwide Forest, the park is a nature lover’s paradise,” she says. 

“There are 17 miles of mountain climbing trails, a full-service restaurant, 96 lodging, a swimming pool, horseback using, rafting on the falls, a present store, a guests middle, two campgrounds with a complete of 51 campsites, the Moonbow Cafe, a full-service restaurant, and a lot extra,” she provides. There’s additionally fishing, birding, picnicking, and gem mining. 

Seeing the awe-inspiring falls is the highest precedence for many vacationers coming to Cumberland Falls State Resort Park. There’s a half-mile hike to the falls—a complete descent of 200 ft—from DuPont Lodge, however you may also select to get a bit nearer (proper as much as the bottom of the falls) through a ship. Sheltowee Hint Journey Resort is the clothing store for guided whitewater rafting journeys beneath Cumberland Falls. Each the Rainbow Mist and the Moonbow Mist journeys come really useful by Monhollen, who says they’re a “once-in-a-lifetime expertise.” Reservations for the latter journey normally open on the Monday earlier than the journey date. 

When requested about the very best mountain climbing trails within the park, Monhollen shared a few her favorites. “Blue Bend Loop, a five-mile loop, is our longest path within the park,” she says, including that it follows the Cumberland River. The three-mile Eagle Falls path is one other certainly one of her picks, and she or he says hikers will get a “glimpse of Cumberland Falls from throughout the river” and it “ends at an exquisite, turquoise waterfall, positioned inside a Kentucky State Nature Protect.” Should you select this route, you’ll even have the chance “to see wildlife and a wide range of totally different flora.” 

These guests trying to find a shorter path can also benefit from the half-mile (one-way) Pinnacle Knob Hearth Tower Path. “It’s the best path within the park, ending on the historic Pinnacle Knob Hearth Tower, providing an impressive view of the foothills of Appalachia,” she explains. You possibly can even be part of a guided tour to Pinnacle Knob Hearth Tower, in-built 1937, with one of many park’s naturalists. 

The park additionally has a wide range of different applications and guided actions all year long. Horseback using is a well-liked selection, and guests can go on rides on weekends in Could, September, and October, and day by day from Memorial Day Weekend till Labor Day. Monhollen additionally suggests swinging  by the guests middle to “see the reptile household and be taught the historical past of the park.”

Notably, the pool, horseback using, rafting, and the Moonbow Cafe are solely supplied seasonally. 

When to Go to

“There’s by no means a nasty time to go to, however I would advocate visiting throughout Could and June to optimize our leisure alternatives on the park,” says Monhollen. After all, if you wish to see the well-known moonbow, you’ll additionally have to time your journey throughout a full moon—and the total moon calendar is out there on-line. The remaining 2025 dates are Nov. 3-7 and Dec. 2-6. 

Ranging from Nov. 1 this 12 months, a couple of of the amenities can be closed as a result of renovations, together with DuPont Lodge, Riverview Restaurant, and Ridgeline Campground. Throughout this time, cabin leases will nonetheless be out there, and different elements of the park—together with Cumberland Falls, the mountain climbing trails, welcome middle, and reward store—will stay open.