Waterfalls of Tennessee

Reviewed by Dean Goss

Greg Plumb's series of books amounts to a franchise. His books are all well put together and well organized. Each book's photographs changes from edition to edition, so you are getting your money's worth with each volume purchased. He's also important to the waterfall community because he has developed a system of waterfall typology that is the gold standard to which the rest of us adhere.

This is a very respectable effort. Greg Plumb obviously likes waterfalls as much as we do. Between us consenting adults, that's saying a lot...we ARE pretty fervent here at the World Waterfall Database. Plumb has created a guidebook that has a lot of solid information stuffed into a pretty concise package. Over 200 waterfalls are covered in this book and you'd have to spend a long time rambling around the state to recreate this fine effort.

The book is printed on quality semigloss paper. It has numerous photographs, quite a few of which are in color. Each waterfall has a factbox, a description, and directions. In addition, there is an informative introduction that addresses issues such as his rating system, his nomenclature for waterfall form (the gold standard for the rest of us), safety and etiquette recommendations, a brief overview of his magnitude scale (a logarithmic scale for rating the visual impact of each waterfall), and geological overview of the regions of the state.

The Bottom Line: Like the rest of Plumb's books, this is a valuable book, bursting with information. It is just as valuable to the casual waterfall visitor as it is to the case hardened waterfall addict. This is a good book to have on your shelves.