Agile Trekker: Cove Lake State Park, TN

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
10/13/2025	2.7 miles	2 hours 12 minutes	556'	1.2 mph	301.1

Parking:

Cove Creek Trailhead

Map:

Cove_Lake_web.png (3400×2700)

Directions:

Take the trail from the parking lot. The trail splits shortly - stay right. When you reach the Y split at the Volunteer Loop Trail, stay left. At the top of the loop, turn left onto the Cumberland Trail. I turned around after a while. When hitting the Volunteer Loop again, this time I took the left branch and returned to the parking area.

Our second day in Tennessee, we visited Cove Lake State Park, which is very close to Norris Dam State Park. This park only has two trails - the Volunteer Loop Trail and a 0.2-mile trail to their campground. We hiked the Volunteer Loop Trail and continued on the Cumberland Trail which is outside of the park. I have to say this park got a thumbs down from us. The trail was rocky and rooty, and there was loud car noise from the highway the whole way. I was having bad hip pain in addition, so that didn't help. I was hiking very slowly. I turned around, and Glen continued on to get a longer hike in. We didn't see anyone on our hike.

Shown on the park map, north of the park border is a hike to Triple Falls. The waterfall is supposed to be gorgeous. I wasn't up for the steep short hike, but if in the area, I'd recommend doing that hike instead of the Volunteer Trail.

I read a little bit about the Cumberland Trail. It's a long-distance trail which is very incomplete at this point.

I figured this park must be about the lake, as the hiking is not very interesting. We drove to a picnic area where there are paved walking paths. These are in full sun, and we saw many people walking on them. We looked for and found a place for Krumm to get in the water. He was happy.