The Putnam County Convention and Visitors Bureau is spearheading a new initiative to make Upper Cumberland’s waterfalls more accessible.
Director of Tourism for the Putnam County Convention and Visitors Bureau Shan Stout said the idea “Waterfalls For All” emerged when the most common question from tourists revolved around accessibility at local waterfalls. Stout said visitors often called to ask if the sites were suitable for children, grandparents, pets, or individuals with disabilities.Stout said the inspiration comes from her grandfather.
“My grandfather, he lost the use of his legs at sixteen years old, and the more I was thinking about this, he loved in a world with so many accessibility challenges,” Stout said. “And I know he was never able to see a waterfall.”
Stout said they are currently collaborating with the State of Tennessee to secure additional funding for the project. She said they are in the process of developing an interactive map highlighting waterfalls across the Upper Cumberland region. Stout also said they are in communication with state parks to ensure the interactive map is comprehensive and user-friendly.
“These are things that are already existing in our state and in our region,” Stout said. “So someone can click and see here are the GPS coordinates to get there, here are the things it features, and we have different sort of coding for it to show the different type of accessibilities.”
Stout said she has been to all these waterfalls on her own time. Stout said she has taken drone footage of the waterfall locations to establish important points such as trails, signs, and lookout spots.
“Were answering all of these questions and so the fun part is, we get to map that out, visit the sites,” Stout said. “And kind of have our own journey and put ourselves mentally in the different level of access of what ew might need if we were a senior adult, or if we were in a wheelchair, or if we had a three year old child.”
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