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Located along the shores of Center Hill Lake in DeKalb County, Edgar Evins State Park is perhaps best known for boating and other lake activities, but this 6,300-acre state park also offers up plenty of fun on dry land as well.

Park Manager Brad Halfacre said the park located at 1630 Edgar Evins State Park Road in Silver Point, Tennessee has an interesting origin story that is a little different than most state parks in Tennessee.

“We were a product of impounding the Caney Fork River,” he said. “All that started in 1948, but we didn’t become a park until 1975.”

After Center Hill Lake was created, U.S. Rep. Joe L. Ervins was interested in creating a State Park on the land overseen by the Army Corps of Engineers.

“He really wanted to highlight his father Edgar Evins, who was a teacher, a politician, a salesman,” Halfacre said. “Edgar did it all.”

Land was then leased from the Army Corps of Engineers, and work on the park commenced.

“From what I have been told, the Corps pretty well designed the majority of this park,” Halfacre said. “You can see their hand in it, and then they have kind of turned it over to us to run as a State Park.”

Officially dedicated as Edgar Evins Rustic State Park Aug. 2, 1975, the park was originally operated on a 75-year lease that was extended for an additional 75-years about four years ago.

The park’s visitor center is a good place to start, particularly for those visiting for the first time. The visitor center features an observation tower providing panoramic views of the surrounding lake and trees. After descending back down the metal spiral staircase to ground level, hikers can take advantage of the 1.35-mile Highland Rim Trail located just off the visitor center parking lot.

Halfacre said he recommends the Highland Rim Trail for a little more experienced hiker.

“It is a good one too because you cross a creek and you get to walk around the lake,” he said. “It is intense, you go down the hill and you walk along the lakeshore a little while and then you switch back up.”

“I would say most of our trails are rated moderate, just because of the elevation. There is nothing flat here,” Halfacre added.

For families with young children, the half-mile Storybook Trail, located near the park’s interpretative center, is an excellent option.

“The kids can read a book as they go and we try to have an outdoor themed book,” Halfacre said. “By the end of the hike they have read the whole book, so it is promoting early reading.”

Also located near the interpretative center, the half-mile Edgar Evins Trail is another option for families looking to enjoy the outdoors without the strain of a serious hike.

“It is great for wildlife, you can see deer a lot of times on that one,” Halfacre said.

“What I recommend people do is hike one trail and then go cool off in the interpretive center,” he said.

It is there that park visitors can learn about the families that lived in the area before their land was purchased by the government and construction of the Center Hill Dam impounded the Caney Fork River.

“During the 1930s and 1940s, they bought up a lot of the people’s land,” Halfacre said. “They offered them what they considered a fair price for their land, but for years people felt like they were run off their property.”

Halfacre said the Edgar Evins State Park interpretative center displays a collection of historic photographs and information that tell the story of the families that had homesteads in the area that is now the park.

“There are about 13 documented homesteads in the park itself, but some of them the only thing left of them is maybe the foundation,” he said. “So we try to talk about the history of the Caney Fork River Valley before it was impounded.”

While the park features 12 miles of hiking trails and other activities, boating and other water activities are the star of the show at Edgar Evins State Park.

“People that come want to be on the water or they want to find a way to get on the water,” Halfacre said. “That is probably our main draw, trails are second.”

While many park visitors will bring their own boat to enjoy the lake on, Edgar Evins Marina offers pontoon boat, houseboat and Jet Ski rentals as well.

“Everybody that comes, they might not have a boat but they are fishing, or they might not have a boat but they are sitting by the lake reading a book watching the sunset over the water,” Halfacre said.

Those interested in overnight accommodations can choose from 34 condo-style cabins, 60 RV campsites and nine walk-in primitive campsites.

“I am going to say our campground is probably the most unique east of the Mississippi,” Halfacre said.

Known by some as cantilever campsites, each RV campsite is lifted off the ground and off the hillside.

While the campground is a unique setup, it can create challenges for larger RVs, so Halfacre advises those unfamiliar with the park to make sure a spot of the right size is available.

Halfacre said one of the best things about Edgar Evins State Park is being able to enjoy a sunset over the water.

“There is nothing better than a Center Hill Lake sunset,” he said.