1 hr 45 min
By car from the Public Square, 89 mi
Field Guide 04 · Tennessee State Parks
Rock Island State Park
The Caney Fork pours over the Great Falls into a limestone gorge beside a 19th-century textile mill and one of Tennessee's early hydroelectric plants, and Center Hill Lake has a natural sand beach here. The gorge closes whenever TVA's dam upstream is spilling or likely to release water, which can change by the hour, so check TVA's schedule first.
Warren CountyRock IslandOpenChecked October 20, 2026
883
Acres*
639,379
Visitors in fiscal 2022*
10
Trails listed, 8.5 miles
Cabins
Overnight: camping, cabins
5
Activities the state lists
* Acres: The park itself; the plan gives more than 2,000 acres counting the land around it that the park manages.* Visitors: The plan says high-traffic areas were not counted before 2023.
What's there
Things to do
- Birding
- Camping
- Hiking
- Paddling
- Swimming
On site
- Beach
- Bike Trails
- Birding
- Boat Access
- Boat Ramp
- Cabins
- Campground
- Canoe Access
- Fishing
- Gift Shop
- Playground
- Swimming
- Trails
- Visitor Center
- Waterfalls
- Wheelchair-Friendly Overlooks
The trails
| Trail | Miles | Difficulty | Surface | Now |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old Mill Gorge Trail | 0.1 | Difficult | Natural | Open |
| Upstream Trail | 0.2 | Difficult | Natural | Open |
| Downstream Trail | 1.55 | Moderate | Natural | Open |
| Blue Hole Trail | 0.15 | Difficult | Natural | Open |
| Collins River Loop Trail | 2.95 | Moderate | Natural | Open |
| Eagle Trail | 0.75 | Moderate | Natural | Open |
| Moonshine Trail | 0.35 | Moderate | Natural | Open |
| Bluff Trail | 1.95 | Moderate | Natural | Open |
| Overflow Trail | 0.3 | — | Natural | Open |
| Cunningham Cemetery Trail | 0.2 | Easy | Natural | Open |
As the park's hiking page lists them on October 20, 2026. Lengths are one way unless the trail is a loop, and some trails share ground, so the total is the sum of the list, not the miles on the ground.
Where to camp
- Rock Island Main CampgroundMixed
- Rock Island Tent Camping AreaTent Only
Getting there
82 Beach Road, Rock Island, TN 38581
Park office: 1-931-837-4770
The park's page at Tennessee State Parks
Campsites, cabins and lodge rooms are booked online through the park's page or by phone at 1-888-867-2757, the state's reservation line.
Nearby
- Scott's Gulf Wilderness State Park15 miles away as the crow flies · 1 hr 55 min from Franklin
- Burgess Falls State Park17 miles away as the crow flies · 1 hr 45 min from Franklin
- Fall Creek Falls State Park19 miles away as the crow flies · 2 hr 15 min from Franklin
- Edgar Evins State Park21 miles away as the crow flies · 1 hr 30 min from Franklin
How we know
Every fact on this page but the summary at the top is the state's, read on the date above, except the drive: that is Valhalla's route on OpenStreetMap's roads from Franklin's Public Square to the park office, with no traffic, rounded to five minutes. Visits are the park plan's count for the year named, mostly from traffic counters. How the guide was made.
- The park. Tennessee State Parks: the Find a Park list, the park's own page, its hiking page and its camping page, read October 20, 2026.
- Acres. The park's strategic management plan. The park itself; the plan gives more than 2,000 acres counting the land around it that the park manages.
- Visitors. The park's strategic management plan, its site fact sheet for fiscal 2022 (July 2021 to June 2022). The plan says high-traffic areas were not counted before 2023.