Cumberland Mountain State Park

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Cumberland Mountain State Park wasn’t originally planned as just a recreation area. It began as part of a New Deal-era program to help impoverished farmers on the Cumberland Plateau relocate to a homestead community. These families, along with the CCC and WPA built the park and facilities. Byrd Lake was formed after the CCC constructed the stone Byrd Creek Dam. At 319-feet-long and 28-feet high, it’s the largest masonry project the Corps ever built. From kayaking in the lake, to hiking or biking the forested trails of America’s largest wooded plateau, there are plenty of ways to enjoy the natural surroundings. You could even play a round at the Bear Trace golf course, which was designed by Jack Nicklaus. For a bit of history, pay a visit to the Cumberland Homesteads Tower Museum, to learn about the community’s development and even tour an original Homestead house which furnished as it would have been during the Great Depression.