Enjoying Cedars of Lebanon State Park, TN…

We chose Cedars of Lebanon State Park because of its proximity to Nashville but also because this is a really nice state park to enjoy. The sites are a bit tight and the roads inside the campground are tight as well but we felt the park was worth it.  We especially liked our site, # 45 as it was a pull through facing the woods with a large deck, picnic table and fire ring   There are several other similar pull through sites in the campground but they are harder to get to. The campground office personnel were very friendly and convenient for the campers is a laundry room located next to the office!

One day we took the girls on a hike in the park. The hike we chose was about two miles in length and was a nice loop through a wooded area close by. Instead of driving to the trailhead we walked the 1/2 mile distance to it making the hike 3 miles in length. This area is typical of the vegetation of Southeastern Forests but there are inclusions of some species found more in the Smokies of Tennessee. One of the things that make this park unique is the stand of Cedars found here that are uncommon in this area....so unique that the park was named after them.

Another neat fact about this area is the large amount of sink holes located in and around the park. It makes sense that there could be some sink holes as we noticed lots of exposed limestone along the trails. Limestone degrades over time as water trickles through it causing caverns underground that eventually collapse creating these sink holes.

0

There were lots of sink holes along the trail and even an occasional cave carved out via erosion. The three mile loop was a pleasant and mostly flat hike. As we finished the trail we continued on back to the campground and I kept hearing a hawk in a tree that we tried to find. A motorist stopped by and asked what we were doing.  He explained there had been sightings of a pair of hawks that had reared some young here. In fact on a later day Sharon and I saw two young hawks feeding on something on the ground.

After dinner for the full camping experience the girls wanted a fire so they could make some s'mores.  Of course no sooner had I made a big fire we began to hear thunder.  Sharon quickly skewered some marshmallows and passed them out along with some umbrellas.  Yep, we found a way to roast the marshmallows under umbrellas in pouring rain.  The rest of the evening was spent laughing while playing Phase 10 and Skip Bo.  I think the girls had fun despite the rain.

After the girls went back to North Carolina Sharon and I decided to play some disc golf. Cedar of Lebanon SP has its own disc golf course. We really enjoyed playing this well laid out 18 hole course. The holes are rather short in distance but the number of trees in the way more than made up for the lack of distance. We have been having a lot of overnight rains in the park since we got here and it never became more evident that when we got to hole number ten. The basket for hole ten was in a small sink hole and was submerged in water. I didn’t notice it until after I tossed my approach shot but fortunately my orange disc was visible under the water.

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Cedars of Lebanon SP and toyed with the idea of staying another night but alas our site was already reserved. Therefore we moseyed on a short northerly route till we arrived at a remote Corps of Engineer park in Kentucky called Tailwater, Barron River Lake Campground. We will be here through the weekend before moving along once again…