From Grotto Falls to hidden creeks, Dana Koogler has chased the sound of water and found a path through life’s toughest terrain.
Story by John Quillen | Photograph by Nathan Sparks, Jimmy Deane & John Quillen
Appeared in Cityview Magazine, Vol. 42, Issue 2 (March/April 2026)
Dana Koogler jokes that she was conceived beneath a waterfall. That’s probably just one of the reasons she wades so deeply into the folds of ancient backcountry maps. Many of us are driven to the outdoors through great literature. For Dana, she cites the work of Hubbs and Morris, “Waterfalls of the Great Smoky Mountains” are a cure for a period of depression in her early thirties.
Dana recalled that first real hike to Grotto Falls in 1997 with her husband Kenny. It’s one of those few waterfalls that you can walk behind and experience a liquid veil. This was her balm of Gilead. It didn’t take long to tick off all 30 hikes in that first guidebook. Although her family occasionally joined in, she realized that it was more her passion. She also suspected there was more goodness further into the back of beyond. In 2003 she began her off-trail quest with the first bushwhack to Hazel Creek Falls. A windstorm pushed her and Kenny out of this little-known area, and they found themselves feeling around in the dark without headlamps. “I cried like a girl”, Dana admitted.
She soon realized the importance of conditioning for these tasks. Off-trail bushwhacking requires a specific skill set and she focused on core strengthening and almost injured herself with sit-ups.“But my lats were shredded!” Everyone knows about Abrams Falls on the Cades Cove loop, but Dana gets excited talking about untouched gems such as Rowans Creek Falls, Crooked Arm Cascade, and the magnificent Mill Creek Cascade tucked discreetly around the old settlements. Lots of shoe leather has been spent by tourists on the path up to the Walker Sisters cabin, but most never know there is a small but scenic waterfall one-half mile behind the house called Grayback Falls. “I call it a one butt waterfall because the approach to it is so tight it is IN the creek and only one person at a time can really see it up close.”
When I was pitching this story to Cityview Publisher Nathan Sparks, he asked me about my favorite Smokies waterfall. I had to think for a while because so many came to mind. Eventually I landed on Ramsey’s Cascade. The sheer volume of water and breadth of that torrent seems thicker than others. And the hike is quite a workout. Dana will tell you about going above the falls and getting to the heart of things. (More than a few hikers have been injured prying around up there.) Nathan told me he was fond of Mingo Falls and not surprisingly, so did Dana. She took a friend off trail straight up the mountain to find those upper drops. Only after reaching the top did she spy a nice path that would have avoided all their rhodo pulling trouble.
In 2013, Dana was diagnosed with a rare form of Guillain Barre Syndrome. She experienced double vision, balance issues and no tendon reflexes. Most people would likely have foregone hiking efforts over uneven ground but not Dana. She doubled down and expanded her quest into Western North Carolina, undertaking the Kevin Adams 100 waterfall challenge. She pushed through pain and sickness, eventually reaching the top of Wilson Falls. This 400-foot off-trail hike on the slopes of Mt. Collins became a celebration of healing with friends.“It was incredibly hard, but fun. Thirteen miles. Rainbows in the falls were like a reassurance from the Lord that He was with me.”
Garnering her favorites felt like asking Robert Plant his preferred Led Zeppelin tunes. But I got an answer. In order, these are Dana’s ‘Greatest Hits”. In the Smokies: Upper Grotto Falls, Twin Falls, Dome Falls, Mill Creek Cascade, Wilson Falls, Upper Ramseys’ Cascade and Flat Creek Falls. She notes that there is a route to the base of Flat Creek Falls (which I personally view as the strangest looking waterslide in the national park.) On the Carolina side, she’s been Dana all the way thru the story.
Why switch now? She is partial to Big Falls on Thompson River and Alarka Falls.
Now a grandma to children ranging from age five to 16, she has hiked off one set of knees and is working on another. Her grandkids tease her about being old (she’s really not) but the photos prove they love being outside with their Grandma. This is her ministry, “A hedge against the night.” She’s been out west and seen Havasu Falls and others but mostly she tromps around the Smokies and Cumberland mountains.
You can learn more about her numerous adventures through her blog, cumberlandgal.blogspot.com.
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