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 of river bends. Bottomland trees are common along stream banks here, and hardwood forests and cane brakes were common along the Cumberland River before the completion of Wolf Creek Dam in 1951 created Lake Cumberland.
With a capacity of 6,100,000 acre-feet, Lake Cumberland is the largest man-made reservoir by volume east of the Mississippi. The reservoir boasts over 1.7 million visitors annually.
