Amos Falls

Amos Falls is one of those waterfalls that’s been known to me since I started waterfalling in Kentucky. It’s off the beaten path, but not too far from Cumberland Falls State Park, and its location is shown on USGS topographical maps. When I started waterfalling in Kentucky, it was one of the dozen or so waterfalls that were fairly well known through simple searches on the internet, largely because it appeared on the topo map.

My first time there took a bit of figuring out to find the best route. The falls are technically in the national forest, but the area is surrounded by a lot of private property and outfitters. It’s a little quirky to get to. You need to take some back roads past a bunch of farms and houses, coming in from the backside rather than the main road that goes to Carmelon Falls.

It is one to visit after a good rain. The iron leaching out of the rock creates orange streaks behind the waterfall that are just breathtaking. As you can see in the photo, the pool takes on this very unique color, and it all comes together to make the spot feel like a special little grotto when you visit Amos Falls.

The waterfall: Amos Falls, Whitley County