Cummins Falls State Park is an idyllic, but rugged, 306-acre day-use park located nine miles north of Cookeville on the Blackburn Fork State Scenic River on the Eastern Highland Rim. Cummins Falls State Park is located at 390 Cummins Falls Lane in Cookeville, Tennessee. Cummins Falls State Park is located at 390 Cummins Falls Lane in Cookeville, Tennessee. For more information, click here.
Located in the Cordell Hull Watershed, the area has been a scenic spot and swimming hole for local residents of Jackson and Putnam counties for more than 100 years.
Photo credit goes to Antonio Del Real.
Cummins Falls is Tennessee’s eighth largest waterfall in volume of water and is 75 feet high.
Photo credit goes to Antonio Del Real.
The park is a perfect place for hiking, and photography, but its also a popular destination for swimming beneath the falls.
Photo credit goes to Antonio Del Real.
Access to the gorge is only permitted with a permit. To check availability or purchase a day permit, click here.
Photo credit goes to Antonio Del Real.
No camping is allowed at Cummins Falls, however, cabins and camping are offered at Standing Stone State Park and Edgar Evins State Park. Standing Stone is a 40-minute drive (23 miles) from the park and offers cabins and tent and trailer camping year-round. Edgar Evins is a 35-minute drive (27 miles) from the park and offers seasonal tent and trailer camping and condo-style cabins year-round.
Cummins Falls’ rich history includes a time when Indians used the area to track the numerous buffalo that wallowed in the river’s shallow areas. In the 1790s, Sergeant Blackburn, a veteran of the Revolutionary War and for whom the Blackburn Fork State Scenic River was named, was awarded the land in lieu of a pension. The land was acquired by John Cummins in 1825, and he used the land to build the first of two mills. Because of his growing clientele, a larger second mill was built in 1845. Local residents would visit the mills and the falls for both commerce and recreation.
Photo credit goes to Antonio Del Real.
For more parks and amazing locations in the area, click here. For the best nearby lodging and campgrounds, click here. For a list of family activities, click here.