Driller Falls

Driller Falls is located in the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, which runs between some southern counties in Kentucky and across the border into a good swath of northern Tennessee. This area, managed by the National Park Service, is essentially the watershed of the Big South Fork of the Cumberland River.

The story goes that the first commercially viable oil well in the United States was an accident, drilled when looking for water in this part of the Big South Fork in Wayne County, Kentucky. The capped well still exists if you know where to look. Along the Big South Fork River, there’s a creek that flows in called Oilwell Branch, and this is the site of that first commercial oil well in our country.

As you hike up Oilwell Branch, it splits into several branches, one of which comes from due west. If you hike that branch for a couple of miles or so, you eventually get to a towering waterfall that has a boulder on top of the ledge that splits the water, making it look like a twin falls when really it’s just one stream split by that boulder that tumbles dozens of feet down below.

Ronald and I saw this waterfall on LiDAR and decided to give it a whirl. We ended up hiking in an absolute monsoon down to the river, across Oilwell Branch, up the branch, up the branch of the branch, and eventually having to rig a handline to climb up onto a boulder. Then we went a little bit farther, and one of us held the umbrella while the other set up their camera gear. We took turns taking pictures of this beautiful waterfall. I’m reminded of just how much it rained when I watch the video I took for over a minute. You can hear the rain pounding the umbrella the entire time. We were soaked even with all of our finest rain gear by the time we got back to our vehicle.

I’ve known of at least one other person who has ventured out since this one got added to the database years ago. It is not for the faint of heart, and I imagine it will continue to not be well visited, as most people aren’t up for an all day hike off trail through streams, downhill, and over boulders to get to a remote waterfall. I will say this area is one of the most remote in the state of Kentucky, the furthest from roads. It is very peaceful, without sounds of urban life. If you’re up for an adventure, this is one you should tackle.

The waterfall: Driller Falls, McCreary County