A few months ago, I read an article online that described the top 10 swimming holes in the United States. Knowing that we would be traveling, I made a few notes of places we might try to visit. One of those places was Cummins Falls State Park in Tennessee, located about 10 miles off of I-40 near Cookeville. In researching the location, I learned that this is one of Tennessee's newest state parks - the dedication was less than 2 years ago. As such, the park is very rustic and primitive. Restroom facilities are under construction, but not complete. There are some signs with maps and park rules posted at the edge of the gravel parking lot. At this time there are no entrance fees, probably because there is no office or place to collect them.
We headed out to Cummins Falls on Sunday afternoon after church with the Roberts family. It was an overcast day, and though the temperature in Nashville was in the mid-70s, it was only about 68 when we arrived at the park. After parking, we headed down the trail to the scenic overlook before going down the trail to the bottom of the falls. We enjoyed the 0.4 mile winding trail through the woods to reach the overlook, and this was the view that greeted us:
From the overlook, we continued on the trail down to the river to get to the bottom of the falls. It's a fairly challenging trail, with some steep drop-offs along the side and plenty of mud if it has rained recently, which it had. Once you reach the river, you turn back to the left and wade along the river for nearly another half mile to reach the falls. There are some places where you can walk on the banks, and others where you have to wade or cross the river, which requires having some balance and taking cautious steps on the slippery rocks. My son, as usual, found a friend to carry along the way.
It's a baby alligator snapping turtle. (Thankfully, his parents didn't show up to join the party.) When you round the final bend and can hear the falls, this is the view that awaits. Notice the size of the people standing in various levels on the falls.
There were quite a few people at the falls, exploring under the waterfall, climbing on the rocks leading up to the swimming hole, or settled in to enjoy the view and watch the kids play. We picked a dry spot with a nice view of the falls and settled in. I packed in a two-legged backpacking chair, which worked well on the uneven rocks. (I also packed in a hammock, but there were only two trees suitable to hang the hammock and they were located up a steep rock slope and surrounded by poison ivy, so I wouldn't recommend trying that unless you are very confident in your abilities.) With the falls as our backdrop, we took a few pictures of the group.
The kids enjoyed playing and swimming at the edge of the swimming hole, which is pretty large and very deep in the middle. The water was very cold, but you got used to it after a while if you kept moving. The rocks that slope down into the water are covered with algae and are very slick, so getting in and out of the swimming hole can be tricky in places. Our group had on a variety of different kinds of shoes, from trail running shoes to Crocs to water shoes to Vibram Spyridon toe shoes. The trail running shoes were great for hiking on the muddy trails, but hard to wear for swimming. The Crocs were also a challenge for swimming. We had a few instances of foot cramps from hiking over rocks in the water shoes, but they worked well in the river and for swimming. My Vibrams seemed to be the best option across all of the types of terrain - they worked perfectly for both the hiking and the river and swimming.
After playing for a while, we decided to swim across to the right side of the waterfall and head up to explore the falls themselves. These rocks were incredibly slick and hard to climb. The water felt very cold!
The adults took a small detour and swam out to the middle of the falls and discovered that there is a rock shelf overhang, so you can actually swim through and hide out under the bottom of the falls. The water is deep, so this is a place to explore only if you are a strong swimmer.
After the swim we climbed up the falls. You really start to get a sense of the size of the waterfall when you see a person walking along there. The current is strong in some places, and the rocks are slick even on the tops of the falls. There are many holes and gaps that you can step in - the ground is uneven under the water. I would use great caution if exploring with small children, as one slip could send you tumbling down several rocky steps of the waterfall. The views are exceptional, though, and sitting underneath a waterfall of this size is a one-of-a-kind experience!
After exploring for a while, some of the kids decided to go back the way we came, but my daughter came with the adults for a more adventurous route back - straight off the falls. She was cold and scared, but determined to jump off a waterfall!
Me, first.
She did it!
After some momentary panic at the shock of the cold water, she calmed down and swam back across the swimming hole to the rocks where our warm towels were waiting.
We stayed to play as long as we could, and then started gathering up our gear to head out. Rather than taking the long trail back through the river and up the mountain, we tried one of the more direct climbs back up to the overlook. That trail was a fairly serious climb, made treacherous by mud and rain. While it was a much faster route back out, I would only recommend it to folks with some experience climbing. It was a little scary with the kids, who required some assistance to climb. There was also a fair amount of poison ivy to dodge along that route.
When we got back to the car, we took a while to clean off the mud enough to get in the car. This was complicated by the fact the restroom facilities are not yet open and there is a single port-a-potty in the parking lot. Bring plenty of towels, baby wipes, trash bags, and fresh water to clean yourself off, at least until the restrooms are open. After a strenuous afternoon of play we were all starving, but we had wisely packed a picnic in the cooler in the car.
I think we all had an amazing time - I can't think of anyplace else I've ever been where I could experience a waterfall of this size up close and personal. We will definitely try to return if we are ever in the area!
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