Long Hunter State Park, a massive park that takes up a good portion of the eastern shore of Percy Priest Lake, offers 20 miles of hiking along the large lake that borders Rutherford, Davidson and Wilson counties, as well as nine more miles of mountain bike trails.

Deer Trail, an easy, flat one-mile trail that travels from the park’s Visitor’s Center to the edge of the lake, offers a nice view of the Hobson Pike bridge going over Percy Priest.

Signs along the trail emphasize the native sassafras trees—an aromatic plant long made into a tea for medicinal purposes—and the pollinators who visit them, and other plants.

Across the highway, another section of the park offers some longer hiking trails, a four-mile loop trail called the Day Loop Trail and the five-and-a-half-mile, one-way Volunteer Trail.

“Although shorter than the Volunteer Trail, I feel like Day Loop Trail was a bit tougher,” a recent park visitor, Felix Gomes said.

Others point out that these trails do contain many exposed tree roots, so hikers should watch their footing, but otherwise these hiking areas stay fairly level for the most part and have only a few sections that would be considered a moderate level of difficulty.

While the winding pathways offer great views of the lake, some report that they travel a little too close to the lake for those wanting a peaceful escape.

“It would probably be better when it is not boating season. You have to deal with the constant noise of boats on the water and then the trail takes you by a boat party cove that is full of boats and various music,” a visitor said after a weekend visit. Others say it is quieter when visiting on days other than summer weekends.

As with most hiking excursions, take your bug spray and hiking shoes, there can be some bugs and uneven, rocky or rooty terrain.

While this network of trails does connect the entirety of Long Hunter State Park, the property contains various different sections and parking areas for easier travel between all of its features.

At the Couchville Lake area, a paved two-mile trail travels around Couchville Lake and goes over a footbridge over a narrow portion of this lake—a much smaller one in comparison to the huge, nearby Percy Priest Lake, but a scenic water surface of its own.

The lake contains boat launch sites, a neat boardwalk that leads out to a pavilion over the water, paddle boards, canoes and kayaks for rent, and calm waters where beginning kayakers can learn the sport.

Nearby the lake, the Reading Ranger Story Trail displays colorful storyboards along its brief walk, where families can read about the experience of a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly.

On the southern end of the park, not far from the Fate Sanders Marina outside of Smyrna, the Bryant Grove area of Long Hunter State Park features a small, sandy beach area where swimmers can access the lake.

This area also has a few picnic tables, shelters and a small playground as a setting where geese roam and families splash in the water.

Near the entrance of the Bryant Grove area, off of Couchville Pike, park visitors can find the Jones Mill Mountain Bike Trailhead. From here, mountain bikers can embark on journeys ranging in distance from a little over two miles on the White Line trail up to the state park’s total of nearly nine miles of mountain bike trails.

Down near the swimming area, a four-mile hiking trail connects this portion of Long Hunter to the portion off of Hobson Pike containing the visitor’s center and Couchville Lake, but for those who want to avoid that eight-mile round-trip journey on foot but still hit multiple park sections in a day, driving between the sites is easier.

The park also offers a few back-country and group campsites for overnight stays.

Note that the park does not allow dogs on the paved Couchville Lake or Reading Ranger Story trails, or within the Bryant Grove Recreational Area or Bryant Grove Trail, but welcomes leashed dogs on the other park trails.

So, for a day of paddling, fishing, swimming or all of the hiking and biking most folks can handle, check out the 2,600-acre Long Hunter State Park, one of the many fine Tennessee State Parks and Natural Areas.

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Long Hunter State Park
2910 Hobson Pk., Hermitage, TN
615-885-2422
Day use, 7 a.m.–sunset
tnstateparks.com