South Cumberland State Park | |
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Type | Tennessee State Park |
Location | Franklin, Grundy and Marion counties |
Coordinates | 35°15′32″N85°47′20″W / 35.259°N 85.789°W |
Area | 12,166 acres (49.23 km2) |
Website | South Cumberland State Park |
South Cumberland State Park is a state park in the middle and southeast portions of Tennessee on the Cumberland Plateau.
The park was established in 1978. It is a collection of eight discrete tracts scattered across Franklin, Marion and Grundy counties, formerly totaling approximately 30,899 acres (as of 2020). [1] The park now contains 12,166 acres following the separation of Savage Gulf into its own state park. Twelve trailheads provide hiking access to most sections of the park, [2] which protects a series of unique ecosystems on the escarpments and in the ravines of the Southern Cumberland Plateau. There are over a dozen large waterfalls in the park, [3] the tallest of which is Foster Falls, in Marion County. The Grundy Lakes unit includes industrial archaeological remains of the coal mines and coke production facilities of the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company, as well as a stockade prison it operated that provided convict labor for those facilities. [4]
The park became too large to manage as a single park so in 2022, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation established Savage Gulf State Park, which removed South Cumberland from Sequatchie County. In 2024 it was announced that the park would be once again be divided into another state park, Head of Crow, reducing the acreage of the park another 4,258 acres (17.23 km2). [5]
Distinct areas contained within the park include:
Crossing in and out of the park's various sections, the Fiery Gizzard Trail is renowned for its beauty and diversity. [6]
The park features one campground that can accommodate cars and small camping trailers Foster Falls. The park also features four backcountry campgrounds: Father Adamz, Grundy Forest, Small Wilds and Little Cove.
Grundy County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is located in Middle Tennessee, bordering East Tennessee. As of 2021, the population was 13,622. Its county seat is Altamont. The county is named in honor of Felix Grundy.
Franklin County is a county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is located on the eastern boundary of Middle Tennessee in the southern part of the state. As of the 2020 census, the population was 42,774. Its county seat is Winchester. Franklin County was formerly part of the Tullahoma-Manchester, TN Micropolitan Statistical Area, it was removed in 2023 and is part of the Winchester Micropolitan Statistical Area.
The Collins River is a 67-mile-long (108 km) stream in the east-central portion of Middle Tennessee in the United States. It is a tributary of the Caney Fork, and is part of the Cumberland, Ohio and Mississippi watersheds. The river drains the scenic Savage Gulf area, located just below the river's source, and empties into Great Falls Lake at Rock Island State Park.
Black Rock Mountain State Park is a 1,743-acre (705 ha) Georgia, United States, state park west of Mountain City in Rabun County, in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It is named after its sheer cliffs of dark-colored biotite gneiss. Astride the Eastern Continental Divide at an elevation of 3,640 feet (1,110 m), the park provides many scenic overlooks and 80-mile (130 km) vistas of the southern Appalachian Mountains. On a clear day, four states are visible: Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. In addition to Black Rock Mountain itself, the park includes four other peaks over 3,000 feet (910 m) in elevation, making it the state's highest state park. As of 2019, it was open to visitors year round.
Fall Creek Falls State Resort Park is a state park in Van Buren and Bledsoe counties, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The over 30,638-acre (123.99 km2) park is centered on the upper Cane Creek Gorge, an area known for its unique geological formations and scenic waterfalls. The park's namesake is the 256-foot (78 m) Fall Creek Falls, the highest free-fall waterfall east of the Mississippi River.
State Route 56 is a 160.6-mile-long (258.5 km) state highway that runs south to north in Middle Tennessee, from the Alabama state line near Sherwood to the Kentucky state line near Red Boiling Springs.
Rock Island State Park is a state park in Warren County and White County, Tennessee, located in the Southeastern United States. The park is named after the community of Rock Island, Tennessee, which in turn received its name from an island on the Caney Fork upstream from the Collins River confluence and Great Falls Dam. Rock Island State Park is centered on a peninsula created by the confluence of these two rivers and extends downstream to the headwaters of Center Hill Lake.
Taconic State Park is located in Columbia and Dutchess County, New York abutting Massachusetts and Connecticut within the Taconic Mountains. The state park is located off New York State Route 344 south of Interstate 90 and 110 miles (180 km) north of New York City. It features camping, hiking, bicycling, hunting, cross county skiing and other recreational opportunities.
Frozen Head State Park and Natural Area is a state park in Morgan County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The park, situated in the Crab Orchard Mountains between the city of Wartburg and the community of Petros, contains some of the highest mountains in Tennessee west of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Scott's Gulf is a canyon situated along the Caney Fork River in White County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The canyon stretches for approximately 18 miles (29 km) as the Caney Fork drops from the top of the Cumberland Plateau down to the eastern Highland Rim. This remote section of the river is home to a wilderness area consisting of a largely undisturbed deciduous forest, numerous waterfalls, caves and other geological formations, and Class IV and Class V whitewater rapids.
Ozone Falls State Natural Area is a state natural area in Cumberland County, Tennessee in the southeastern United States. It consists of 43 acres (0.17 km2) centered on Ozone Falls, a 110-foot (34 m) plunge waterfall, and its immediate gorge along Fall Creek. Because of its picturesque beauty and easy access, Disney selected Ozone Falls for scenes for their live-action film "Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book". The area is managed by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and maintained by Cumberland Mountain State Park. It is also part of Cumberland Trail State Park.
Pocket wilderness is a name used by Bowater corporation and the State of Tennessee for any of several tracts of Bowater-owned private land on and near the Cumberland Plateau that the company set aside beginning in 1970 "for preservation in its natural state, with no logging or development other than hiking trails permitted within its boundaries" and registered as Tennessee state natural areas. Several areas formerly managed as Bowater pocket wilderness are now incorporated into state-owned natural areas or National Park Service sites.
Ozone Falls is a waterfall located in Cumberland County, Tennessee in the Ozone Falls State Natural Area and Cumberland Trail State Park. Ozone Falls is situated along Fall Creek, which drains a short section of the Cumberland Plateau between the Crab Orchard Mountains to the west and Walden Ridge to the east. The creek flows down from its source high in the Crab Orchard Mountains for a mile or so before steadying briefly as it enters the community of Ozone. Fall Creek enters the state natural area just after it passes under U.S. Route 70, which runs perpendicular to it. The creek spills over Ozone Falls a few hundred meters south of US-70. The trailhead is located along US-70. Current acting Mayor-General, Kyle Sherrill, wants to Make Ozone Great Again!
The Window Cliffs State Natural Area covers 275 acres (111 ha) in Putnam County, Tennessee, near Cookeville. The Window Cliffs is the name of a prominent group of natural bridges in a narrow 200-foot-tall (61 m) ridge in the neck of a meander of Cane Creek. The day-use area is only accessible by hiking a 2.7 miles (4.3 km) trail. The Window Cliffs was an acclaimed destination in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The area contains several state-listed endangered plants.
The Cumberland County Biker/Hiker Trail is a Pennsylvania rail trail at Pine Grove Furnace State Park and is almost entirely on the "Old Railroad Bed Road" between Fuller Lake and Laurel Lake. The trail is a pleasant 2.2 miles within the Pine Grove Furnace State Park located in the Michaux State Forest. The park is home to many species of wildlife and is a common attraction for locals and tourists alike. Walking, hiking, and biking are the opportunities offered by the trail year round. The biker/hiker trail shares roughly half of its trail with the Appalachian Trail and is a very popular route within the State Park.
The Fiery Gizzard Trail runs from Tracy City, Tennessee to Foster Falls in Marion County, Tennessee. It is renowned for its beauty and diversity, cited by Backpacker magazine as one of the top 25 hiking trails in the United States. The 12.5-mile (20.1 km) trail offers scenic views, waterfalls, rock formations, and hemlock trees over 200 years old.
The Land Trust for Tennessee is a non-profit conservation organization working to protect Tennessee's natural, scenic, and historic landscapes and sites. Since 1999, The Land Trust has conserved more than 135,000 acres (550 km2) of land across 65-plus Tennessee counties.
State Route 399 is 10.6-mile-long (17.1 km) east–west state highway in the Cumberland Plateau region of Tennessee. It serves to connect the towns of Gruetli-Laager and Palmer to Cagle and the Savage Gulf State Natural Area portion of South Cumberland State Park.
Savage Gulf State Park is a 19,000 acre state park in southern Middle Tennessee.