American Travel Journal: Rock Island State Park

I took a day trip to Rock Island State Park in late March, 2013. This park surrounds the Great Falls Dam owned by TVA and is located at the confluence of the Collins River and Caney Fork. The park visitor center includes restrooms, a gift shop and an information desk. There are also ten cabins and 60 campsites in the park.

Visitor Center

There are several trails in the park, including Collins River, Old Mill Gorge Access, Blue Hole, Eagle, Moonshine, and Bluff on the south side of the Caney Fork as well as an Upstream and Downstream trail on the more remote north side. The road across the dam is closed to visitors, so access to the north side requires a bit of extra driving. Note that hiking on the riverbed is inherently dangerous due to the possibility of increased water flows with little or no warning.

Blue Hole

A sign at the beginning of the Blue Hole Trail warns that the ½ mile trail is “strenuous” and hikers should "use extreme caution." While I didn't find the trail that strenuous, it was a bit unusual for a state park trail. The trail starts with a wooden ramp and then proceeds to a series of gravel filled timber steps before it gets steep enough to require wooden stairs with a hand rail. At the bottom of the wooden stairs is a set of steel stairs, then there is some grating and a final set of wooden stairs. At the bottom of all the stairs, the water running off the hillside is competing with your feet for space on the trail. Blue Hole is at the extreme upper end of Center Hill Lake.

The wooden stairs

The steel and concrete stairs

The trail seems to disappear at the bottom of the stairs

Turn around to head back up the stairs and the trail reappears

Water drips off the rocks and the vegetation

The trail continues toward the river

The trail becomes a maze of gravel, rocks and water

Blue Hole

Spring Beauty

Great Falls

In the 1800s, Great Falls on Caney Fork was called Horseshoe Falls. There is an overlook near the old mill as well as a trail down to the river. The falls are about 15 feet high.

Great Falls

One half of Great Falls

The other half of Great Falls

View downstream from the overlook with Twin Falls in the distance

Twin Falls

Twin Falls was created by Great Falls Dam. As the Collins River level rose behind the dam, water seeped through the narrow peninsula and flowed down the Caney Fork Gorge wall. The falls are about 80 feet high.

Stairs lead down to the downstream trail

Twin Falls from the top of the stairs

Twin Falls from the river side

Downstream Trail

Twin Falls from downstream

Ledges or steps downstream of Twin Falls

Upstream Trail

A side trail leads down to the water across from the power house. The main upstream trail runs below a cliff wall and provides several access points to Caney Fork.