Edgar Evins State Park - Sara

We had five hikers on the Merritt Ridge Trail at Edgar Evins State Park. We started the hike at 9:30 am CT but by the time we got to the split, it was decided we were going to run out of daylight to finish the loop and get back to the trailhead. We had a few trees to crawl over that slowed down our hike. So, we turned around and finished our hike on the Millenium Trail. We ran into Nora Henn (who hiked the entire trail)  on our way back and she told us there were a lot of trees down on the loop section. So that would have really slowed down our hike to get back before dark. Evidently the Merritt Ridge is not being maintained, which is a shame because it's a beautiful trail. We had views of the lake almost the entire time and nice rock formations. It was perfect weather for a hike. 

Hikers were Jay Brain, Amanda Carkhuff, Joan Hartvigsen, Sara Pollard and J. C. Saunders. 

Pictures:

Edgar Evins State Park

Ten hikers hiked the 8.0 mile Millennium and Merritt Trails at Edgar Evins State Park. It was a sunny day for a hike in this beautiful park.  We had hikers from the Plateau, East Tennessee and Upper Cumberland chapters to join us. We saw lots of early spring wildflowers along the way – cutleaf toothwort, anemone, spring beauties, bloodroot and trillium. We were pleasantly surprised at the abundance of wildflowers. The trail can be challenging, but has awesome views of the lake and Center Hill Dam. We enjoyed lunch on the shoreline rocks. Hikers were Pete Broehl, Roy Duncan, Cheryl Heckler, Craig McBride, Lora McBride, Sara Pollard, Jan Safavi, Pat Serio, Marcy Tucker and Wayne Yancey.

Pictures:

Edgar Evins State Park - Anna

OCT. 10^TH - HISTORY HAYRIDE AT EDGAR EVINS STATE PARK: It was beautiful weather for a hike and hayride in the park. The wagons were full and all said it was the best one ever!

Edgar Evins State Park - Sara

I think the menacing weather report kept folks from hiking today, but the weather was PERFECT for a hike.  We had a nice breeze along Merritt Ridge and enjoyed lunch on the shore of Center Hill Lake.  We saw lots of wildflowers – huge trillium, Dutchman breeches, anemones, larkspur, spring beauties and many more.  We hiked in on the Millennium Trail  to start the 5.5 loop across Merritt Ridge.  We returned finishing the 1.5  Millennium Trail loop.  Views of the lake were beautiful.  Hikers from the Murfreesboro chapter were Andy Meeks, Sara Pollard, Jennifer Zahn;  and Joan Hartvigsen from Highland Rim.

Pictures:

Celebration of Spring 2014 Edgar Evins State Park

Today was the annual Celebration of Spring at Edgar Evins State Park near Silver Point, TN. I volunteered to lead a hike on the Millennium Trail and the wildflower photos are from the hike. The other pictures are of Center Hill Dam. Thanks to Fount Bertram and Anna Schultheis Bertram and the Friends of Edgar Evins State Park, Inc. for a fantastic FREE celebration. If you didn't go, put it on your calendar for 2015!

Pictures:

Edgar Evins Hayride - Anna

TTA was well represented and appreciated at the History Hayride at Edgar Evins State Park on October 12th. Cindy Andrews Leech and Joan Ducker Bentley, both from the Murfreesboro Chapter, and Joyce Chapman (Nashville Chapter) worked at registration. Tony Jones, also of the Murfreesboro Chapter, was a dedicated photographer for the event. Mary Cole (Nashville Chapter) helped direct traffic and parking, Fount Bertram (Murfreesboro Chapter) supervised the Boy Scouts as they assisted passengers on and off the wagons. Anna Bertram (Murfreesboro Chapter)  served as "gopher", hostess, and ambassador for the Friends of Edgar Evins State Park. Ruth Ann Henry (Upper Cumberland Chapter), made her annual appearance as a paying guest. (Hope no one has been left out.)  It was perfect weather and was another great History Hayride, netting the Friends of Edgar Evins State Park about $1,400 to use in improvements for the park. Thanks to all who took part to help with this great cause. We had fun too!

Edgar Evans State Park - Roy

Edgar Evans State Park   Millenium Trail 8 miles.

We had 8 hikers on this trip and the weather was perfect, low 50's in the morning and warming into the low 70's by the afternoon, clear blue sky's and a slight breeze all day. This was a somewhat challenging hike with some steep climbs and descents but we all did just fine. It took us about 6 hours to do the 8 miles but we did take several short breaks and took almost an hour for lunch on the shore or Center Hill Lake. (Jenny even went for a swim)

There lots of big trees and the largest grape vine we had ever seen. We also found some fruit of the Paw Paw tree. Saw some really cool fossils and several late summer wild flowers. The hikers were: Roy Duncan, Howard Duncan, Kim Williams, Katherine Bond, Jenny Jacobs, Joan Hartvigsta, Eleanor Gilchrist, and Valerie Galan. This is a very nice trail and one I will do again in the near future.

Pictures:

Edgar Evins State Park - Sara

There were 6 of us on the 8 mile Merritt Ridge Trail led by Sara Pollard in Edgar Evins State Park:  Cheryl Heckler and Marcy Tucker from the Plateau chapter,  Joan Hartvigsen and Dennis Kronlage from Highland Rim,  and Roy Duncan from Murfreesboro.  It rained almost the entire day, but we saw lots of spring wildflowers and enjoyed lunch on one of the highest points overlooking the lake.

Pictures:

Edgar Evins State Park - Anna

April 14th CELEBRATION OF SPRING AT EDGAR EVINS STATE PARK
If you weren't there you missed an excellent opportunity to learn about wildflowers, trees, butterflies and other natural wonders from hike guide Randy Hedgepath, the TN State Naturalist. It was a full day packed with outdoor recreational activities and a live stage show. (Mark your calendars now for April 13th next year; this annual event just keeps getting bigger and better!)

Picture #1 - Randy Hedgepath leading hikers on the Highland Rim Trail while pointing out the many species of trees found in Edgar Evins State Park.

Picture #2 - Hilda Vaughan from Murfreesboro TTA climbed the observation tower. She asked me to take her picture so she could prove that she did it.

Edgar Evins State Park- Anna

March 17 - 10th Annual Waterfall Tour Sponsored by the Friends of Edgar Evins State Park: Fortunately, despite predictions of rain ranging from 40 to 70 %, we got through the tour with beautiful weather. (Fount's usual guarantee of no rain on his outings held true once again!)

Nabil, Cathy and her daughter Sarah, Mary Belle, Fount and Anna represented the Murfreesboro TTA among the sell-out group that filled 7 vans.

At Cummins Falls, the newly acquired State Natural Area, we were met by Ranger Jeremy Vaden who is one of two rangers already assigned there. Ranger Vaden accompanied us and explained to the group how the approach to the falls will be enhanced and trails established. We all felt good that this exceptionally beautiful natural feature was literally saved from the developer who planned to build houses that would extend out over the falls.

After a hearty lunch at the Golden Corral in Cookeville, complete with a chocolate dessert fountain, we went on to the City Park Falls. There had been enough recent rain that it was quite impressive and there were many varieties of wildflowers blooming along the path leading to it.

Then on to Hidden Valley Falls, where a "gloriously tacky" resort type amusement area surrounds the natural falls. It was surely a very popular summer day retreat during 1950's before the advent of air conditioning. We enjoyed poking around the miniature golf course, visiting the wedding chapel above the falls, feeding the ducks, going out in paddle boats, and eating snow cones before heading back to Edgar Evins State Park. It began to sprinkle as we unloaded at the park.

For those who waited too late to reserve a spot on the tour this year remember that the reservations open on February 1st each year at the park office and that different falls are visited each year. Pictures courtesy of Lynn Merritt Huggins (Lynn is a hiker as well as a descendant of the Merritt family for which the hiking trail is named at Edgar Evins State Park)

Pictures:

Edgar Evins State Park

We had a total of 7 hikers Saturday, November 12 who hiked the Merritt Ridge and Millennium Trails at Edgar Evins State Park. We had gorgeous views of the lake and could see Center Hill Dam at one point. The Merritt Ridge section was challenging in some areas, but just enough to keep it interesting. The Merritt Ridge Trail has beautiful rock formations overlooking the lake. We came upon an area covered with yucca plants and blooming purple aster flowers. The trails are well marked and the weather was perfect. One of our hikers – James Herring is a long time member of TTA and built the kiosk behind the group picture.

Hikers: James Herring, Ann Jacobs, Denise Longie, Diane Manus from the Nashville chapter, Martin McCullough, Sara Pollard, and Jan Safavi.

Pictures: