Introduction
Greetings, dear reader! Thanks for stopping by! Yesterday, the weather was warm and cloudy. We, however, didn't get the much-needed rain, which I had hoped the clouds would bring. Perhaps the temperature will drop to more seasonable highs in a few days.
Two days ago, on Tuesday, 10/10/2023, the weather was warm, mostly sunny, and a little windy. Cove Lake State Park had been calling me since the day after I hiked Seven Islands State Park. (That hike is highlighted in both the article and podcast from 9/24/2023.) Mrs. Appalachian Irishman—enjoying her week of fall break—decided to accompany me! She is even featured in the embedded podcast! I don't think that my wife will get in three hikes during her fall break. We will see. I suggested it.
It was our first time hiking at Cove Lake State Park (Tennessee State Parks, Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation). It is about as far from the house (driving northwest) as Panther Creek State Park is (driving southeast). Lord willing, Cove Lake will call us, or at least me, again soon!
This 54th entry in the Hiking topic section mentions the park and the trail map, describes our hike (with six photographs), and includes the podcast, featuring my wife! After hiking, we enjoyed a good meal, which is mentioned before the conclusion.
The Park & Trail Map
The Cove Lake State Park website describes the park as follows:
Cove Lake’s 606 acres are situated in a beautiful mountain valley on the eastern edge of the Cumberland Plateau. Scenic nature trails lead through a diversity of wetlands and woodlands, offering wildlife viewing for the nature enthusiast. A paved walking/bike trail provides easy access to all park facilities. Visitors can spend the day fishing or simply sitting back and capturing the picturesque vista Cove Lake offers.
My 2006 Frontier got us to the visitor center at 11:32 AM. I conversed briefly with a park ranger about the different trails. The “Printable Trail Map” below, once enlarged to 200%, is readable in a web browser.
Our Hike, Including Four Photographs
My “bionic” right foot did not want to pound the easy and “civilized” 3.5-mile Paved Trail. I thought that the 1.55-mile Volunteer Trail (Loop)—to the far left, or west, on the map—might be sufficiently challenging for me and easy enough for my wife. To reach that trailhead from the visitor center, we drove 1.8 miles west on US-25W N to Bruce Gap Road (which the map identifies). My truck was the only vehicle in the parking lot. We had the entire hike to ourselves!
We started our hike at the information board, in the photograph below, at 12:11 PM. (Please note that all the photographs in this article were taken as we hiked out.)
Can you see the reflections of my wife and me in the above photograph? Mrs. Appalachian Irishman, with a wave, was standing behind me. I was wearing a white tee shirt and my favorite hiking cap. The view looks northwest.
We hiked northeast for only a short distance on a level trail until we reached the main trailhead in the photograph below. Several trail options increased my interest in additional hikes!
Some years ago, a friend and former coworker mentioned the Devil's Racetrack Trail. Intrigued, I always thought that it would be a farther drive from the house. After we hiked on the Volunteer Trail (Loop) for a while, I noticed where the trail connected to the Devil's Racetrack Trail!
While my wife waited nearby, I hiked a short distance on the Devil's Racetrack Trail! It was somewhat interesting. I never did see the devil or his racetrack. I may call my friend to see if he would like to hike that trail with me one of these days.
The Volunteer Trail (Loop) is easy enough. It also intersects with the Cumberland Trail, on which we also hiked for a while. Several switchbacks offered steep enough climbs to challenge me a little. Going down other switchbacks was somewhat challenging. We saw many buckeyes, which had fallen from several buckeye trees. I brought two home. If we had brought along a sack with us, we could have filled it with buckeyes.
At one point, we crossed a wooden bridge, which spans a small creek. Later, as we were on our way out, we spotted a turtle, apparently asleep, right on the trail. I tapped him with my foot and suggested that he get off the trail before someone, not noticing, stepped on him more firmly. The turtle didn't even stick out its head to thank me for the warning!
The photograph below shows my wife waving at the convergence of the Volunteer Loop and Cumberland Trail. This was during our hike out. Hiking in, we took the right (southeast) fork to the Volunteer Loop. We returned down the higher (northeast) Cumberland Trail. Hiking theology always states, “At a life crossroad, always take the right path going in!”
A minute after I took the above photograph, I used my semi-intelligent phone to record the audiovisual episode. It is in the next section.
The next photograph is from the parking lot. As stated previously, the location is on Bruce Gap Road, a short drive from the visitor center.
No other vehicle, aside from my truck, was in the parking lot at our arrival and departure. There's my wife, waving at y'all again! My truck enjoyed the shade while awaiting our return.
As an interesting note, we were near the parking lot and almost off the trail, when a local police officer drove in, around, and out of the parking lot! He must have been checking the license plate on my truck. I hope that he saw us. I waved at him. If he had stopped, I would have shaken his hand and thanked him for his service to the folks in Caryville!
The Volunteer Trail (Loop) and adjacent trails are interesting enough. Interstate 75, maybe a tenth of a mile or so to the west, runs alongside much of the trail. I didn't care for all that traffic noise. Still yet, as I have said many times, “A day in the woods is better than not having been there!”
For further reading about the Devil's Racetrack Trail, this article suggests Tennessee River Valley: Devil's Racetrack and, for a more personal article, “East Tennessee Hike: A Review of Devil’s Racetrack Trail to Triple Falls & Devil’s Overlook,” adventure and the girl, by Jayme, 3/19/2022. Both articles include great photographs. The first article summarizes the trail quite well. The second article, well written, is about a hike that the couple had taken last year. I like the personal style of the second article.
The Podcast, Featuring Mrs. Appalachian Irishman!
As stated above, I started the audio-video recording at 1:10 PM. We were at the location in the third trail photograph above, where my wife was waving at the convergence of the Volunteer Loop and Cumberland Trail. The clip is a minute and 32 seconds long. I couldn't coax my wife into a more pithy conversation!
Appalachian Irishman - Podcasts (YouTube) introduces for the first time and highlights Mrs. Appalachian Irishman! Take it away, dear! Please enjoy Cove Lake State Park: 10-10-2023 Hike (published 10-12-2023; episode 20).
You are welcome, dear reader, to encourage my wife to open up her gift of gab a bit more in her next episode! She can and does talk more, if she sets her mind to it.
Dining at Rickard Ridge BBQ
Being hungry after our hike, my wife and I decided to dine at Rickard Ridge BBQ, which is located in the park, just west of the visitor center. The cordial server (or waitress, as they were once called) seated us and took our orders quickly.
That had to be one of the best hamburgers that I've ever eaten! The french fries were also great! My wife enjoyed her loaded baked potato. We both ate every bite! I even thought about asking the nearby diners if I could have one of their mushrooms! Those looked delicious.
As the two photographs below indicate, the restaurant is in a lovely setting. Large windows provide views of the valley, Cove Lake, and the Cumberland Mountains.
The next photograph looks northwest. The restaurant, to my southwest, was beside me. Enjoy the view!
Look at that ridge! Wouldn't you like to hike up to that ridge, which is somewhere on Cumberland Mountain? I would!
Conclusion
I wish, years ago, that I had figured out that Cove Lake State Park is about the same distance from the house as Panther Creek State Park. I know now! My hiking log and memory recall the following three hikes, so far, at Panther Creek State Park: On 10/29/2010, as noted in “Four Hikes in Four Days! (published 11-14-2010),” on 11/24/2017, and on 12/10/2017. I have photographs and memories of the two hikes in 2017, but I didn't publish articles about them.
This hike was my 236th since I started logging hikes on 4/23/2000. Only the dear Lord knows the actual number of hikes that I took before I started my log. It was Mrs. Appalachian Irishman's 28th hike with me. She has accompanied me on House Mountain (12 of 181 hikes so far), Norris Dam State Park (three of 23 hikes so far), Hawkins County (one of 12 hikes so far), Smoky Mountains National Park (four of five hikes so far), and other locations (eight of 15 times so far). Our hike two days ago was an “other locations” entry in my hiking log.
Remember, dear reader, “Any day in the woods is better than not having been there!” Today, the weather is clear, sunny, windy, and unseasonably warm. It would have been a good day for another hike. My wife, unlike me, did not sense “[t]he mountains are calling, and I must go” (John Muir, 1873). The source for the John Muir quote is noted in previous articles from 3/31/2023 (House Mountain hike #179) and 4/14/2023 (House Mountain hike #180). My wife, bless her heart, doesn't hear the mountains call as I do. To her credit, however, she did manage one hike in one week.
Well, this Appalachian Irishman is 10-10 on the side now for now. To any readers who are interested in hiking House Mountain, I have hiked “My Mountain,” as I call it, 181 times so far. If you would like a free hiking guide to help you on your first hike there, you are welcome to use the “Contact Form” on the main page of this website to email me. I will respond!
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