Pickett State Park & Wilderness Area

Pickett State Park sits in the most isolated corner of the Upper Cumberland - Fentress County, on the northern edge of the Cumberland Plateau, adjacent to the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area. The combination of the two gives hikers and naturalists access to tens of thousands of acres of protected plateau wilderness. Pickett itself is recognized as one of the most botanically diverse small areas in North America, with plant species that survive here because the dissected plateau created isolated microhabitats where Ice Age relict species hung on long after the glaciers retreated.

The hiking is the reason to come. Natural arches, rock shelters used by prehistoric peoples, hemlock-lined canyon streams, and sandstone bluff lines define the terrain. The Hidden Passage Trail is a classic that winds through shelters and bluffs and across footbridges over cold creek tributaries. The Hazard Cave Loop is a short but dramatic walk through a massive rock shelter. Longer backcountry trails connect into the Big South Fork for multi-day expeditions.

The park has cabins, a small lake with paddleboats and fishing, and a campground. But the accommodations are secondary to the trails. This is a park for people who want to walk in genuine wilderness and see things that most state park visitors miss: rare wildflowers, ancient geology, forest that has been largely undisturbed for a very long time.

Jamestown is the nearest town, about 12 miles south - a small Fentress County seat with basic services. The drive from Cookeville on US-70 and TN-52 through the plateau country is worth making slowly, with stops at overlooks along the way.