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
Red River
The Red is distinctive in many ways. It has less surface water and less forest per square mile than any other watershed in the Cumberland
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
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
Collins River
Savage Gulf is a majestic canyon in the region, where the waters of the Collins River, Big Creek, and Savage Creek dance between narrow canyon
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
Old Hickory Lake
At 983 square miles, the watershed is the largest of the four in the region. It is home to Bledsoe Creek State Park, the Taylor
Harpeth River
En route to the Cumberland, the Harpeth takes on the Little Harpeth, Big Turnbull Creek, and Jones Creek – all streams (along with the Harpeth
