Nature and Recreation

Burgess Falls is located on the Falling Water River. This day-use park is noted for its natural beauty and four waterfalls that cascade down from over 250 feet in elevation. The last of these falls is the most spectacular, plunging more than 130 feet into the gorge.

Cummins Falls State Park is an idyllic, but rugged, 282-acre day-use park located nine miles north of Cookeville on the Blackburn Fork State Scenic River on the Eastern Highland Rim. Located in the Cordell Hull Watershed, the area has been a scenic spot and swimming hole for residents of Jackson and Putnam counties for more than 100 years. Cummins Falls is Tennessee’s eighth-largest waterfall in volume of water and is 75 feet high.

Window Cliffs is a 275-acre state natural area designated in 2014. It is located near Burgess Falls State Natural Area. Located within the dissected portion of the Eastern Highland Rim, Window Cliffs is a prominent geological clifftop feature that consists of a very narrow, elongated ridge that lies in the neck of an incised meander of Cane Creek. While it is about 150 feet wide at its base, it is only a few feet wide on the narrow clifftop 200 feet above Caney Creek.

The Periwinkle Trail is a 2.7 out-and-back hiking trail that begins across the street from Wildwood Resort and meanders along the shoreline and over a couple of ridges to the Indian Creek Campground and Recreation Area.  This moderate hike will transverse through Cedar thickets, across a few creeks, past old homesites and down to the shore of Cordell Hull Lake.  The path ends at a COE archery range where there is a covered picnic area.   Wildwood also offers a shuttle service if you would like to make this a one-way hike.

Lake Meadow Farm offers guided Horseback riding with thousands of lakeside acres to ride.  Come and explore the Sportsman’s Paradise that is Cordell Hull Lake – aboard a smooth riding gaited horse.  You haven’t experienced Tennessee – until you’ve ridden a Tennessee Walking Horse!  They specialize in small groups of no more than 6 riders, ensuring that each rider will get the most out of their experience .

Bearwaller Gap Hiking Trail is a 10.8 mile out and back hiking trail located on Cordell Hull Lake. If you have two vehicles you can park one at the Turkey Creek Overlook trailhead, which is worth visiting just for the beautiful view of the lake and dam, and the other at the Defeated Creek park trailhead to make this a one-way hike.

Edgar Evins State Park is a 6000 acre park located on the shores of the deep waters of Center Hill Lake just a short drive from Wildwood. There are seven trails and approximately 12 miles of hiking at the park, ranging from moderate to strenuous. The 5.5-mile Merritt Ridge Trail is the longest and most challenging, ascending the ridges from an intersection along the 2.5-mile Millennium Trail. Many hikers will combine those two trails to form an 8-mile loop.

Bear Wheels Mountain Bike Trail is a single-track mountain bike trail located in Defeated Creek Park on Cordell Hull Lake.  There are two loops,  Black Bear and Grizzly, with Black Bear being the easier of the two and about five miles in length.  Grizzy is nine miles.  The trail is in great condition and the entire trail is under tree cover.  The trails border Cordell Hull Lake and are a great workout.