Mother Nature has been very kind to Tennessee with extraordinary scenery from the Great Smoky Mountains in the east to the Mississippi River in the west. Appealing to a wide variety of interests, the Volunteer State is a haven for music aficionados, sightseers, history buffs, outdoor enthusiasts and photographers. Waterfall fans, listen carefully ... Tennessee is the land of waterfalls. Located throughout the Appalachian Mountains and the central foothills, more than 800 named waterfalls are scattered over two-thirds of the state.
   About halfway between Knoxville and Nashville, along I-40, is the city of Cookeville, Tennessee. Here within an hour and half driving time are a dozen exceptional waterfalls, and some are considered the best in the state. Cummins Falls is among the exceptional list, and with a swimming hole that rated in the top ten of all of America, Cummins Falls State Park should be on your bucket list.
   About a 20 minute drive from Cookeville, the state park is considered a day use facility and offers no overnight amenities. Spartan features including parking, restrooms, picnic areas and park trails. Two trails drop down into the gorge, one about a mile in length, the other not as steep, but measures about a mile and a half. Upstream of the falls, John Cummins built the first of two water powered mills in 1825. Both mills were lost in a flood 1n 1928, but the Cummins name lives on. Downstream of the falls, the gorge area remained untouched and is still close to what nature intended ... a place to cool off during the hot days of summer. Cummins Falls is the state's eighth largest waterfall in volume and has a way to envelope the gorge with a cooling mist. Even if you're not one to jump in, the gorge offers a superb viewpoint of the falls.

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