Travel + Leisure picked it as one of the 10 best swimming holes in the nation; let’s just say they know more about water formations than they do barbecue. Pictures don’t do this staggeringly gorgeous state park justice: It’s essentially a 75-foot waterfall, studded with mossy natural terraces, which spills into a deep bowl-shaped cistern ringed with boulders. The treacherous Indiana Jones-caliber hike over logs and ravines makes it all the sweeter. It’s located some 15 minutes northwest of Cookeville about 90 minutes east of Nashville; make sure you reward yourself at Cookeville’s Cream City soda shop, illuminated by a two-story sign that’s a wonder in itself.
