Explore the Basin
Discover 18,000 square miles of rugged wilderness, beautiful streams and charming towns in the Cumberland River Basin of Kentucky and Tennessee.
Watersheds of the Basin
Old Hickory Watershed
Waters that flow through the Old Hickory Lake watershed eventually make their way to an impounded section of the Cumberland River known as Old Hickory
Lake Cumberland
Endangered gray bats spend nights foraging for insects over streams and the placid waters of the reservoir. Spectaclecase mussels avoid strong currents beneath the bluffs
Stones River
Within the watershed, sections of Cripple Creek, Overall Creek, and the east, west, and middle forks of the Stones River are all found on the
Upper Cumberland
Rainbow darter and hogsuckers swim amongst the fast creek riffles, and fourtoed salamanders burrow within the mosses of boggy wetlands. Hemlock and magnolia trees can
Rockcastle
Sections of the Rockcastle are protected under the state of Kentucky’s Wild Rivers Program and the river has been recognized with an Outstanding National Resource
Caney Fork River
The Caney Fork watershed is drained by the Cumberland’s longest tributary, the Caney Fork River. This 143-mile river was named for the cane breaks Europeans
Obey River
As the Obey flows west, beyond the Cumberland Plateau, it reaches Dale Hollow Lake, a reservoir created to control flooding and provide hydropower by the
Lower Cumberland
That said, it doesn’t lack for superlatives. It is home to more surface water and more wetlands than any other watershed in the Cumberland River
