Why this park
Tims Ford State Park covers 3,546 acres in Franklin County, west of Winchester, on the lake behind TVA's Tims Ford Dam. The lake covers 10,700 acres and reaches 34 miles up the Elk River, and the park spreads along its shore and onto six islands.
What makes the place worth drawing is the view from the Marble Plains Overlook, at the end of a paved trail through grassland and hardwoods: the lake below and the Cumberland Plateau beyond. On the Lost Creek Overlook Trail, hikers cross two cable bridges, 164 and 180 feet long, which the state ranked among Tennessee's longest when they opened in 2011.
The story
The lake takes its name, the park's page says, from an Elk River ford close to the dam site, a crossing owned by Abner Tims. The dam's National Register nomination names him in full as Abner Mansfield Tims, one of the county's early settlers, and puts the ford on his land.
In late 1964 TVA proposed two dams, Tims Ford and Tellico, but money ran to one, and President Johnson's January 1965 budget asked only for Tellico. Representative Joe L. Evins, who chaired the House subcommittee over the money and whose district held Tims Ford, moved it ahead, and in the end both were approved. That made Tims Ford, more or less by default, the first dam of TVA's new push for lakes on tributary rivers, Dollie Kathleen Boyd writes in a 2013 history thesis at Middle Tennessee State University. Work began on March 28, 1966, and the dam closed on December 1, 1970.
Landowners could take TVA's offer or face condemnation, Boyd writes, and most took the offer. The project bought 21,383 acres, displaced 215 families and moved 318 graves, the nomination says. The water covered two small communities, Owl Hollow, on Town Creek, and Awalt, founded in 1821. A third, Marble Plains, which took its name from a marble deposit worked long ago, stayed above the lake, but much of its land was bought and its people left. The park was built over much of it.
TERDA, the Elk River development agency the legislature created in 1963, gave the state 413 acres in 1970 and 1,010 more in 1973, after a fight over handing the land to a Colorado developer instead. Ground was broken in March 1976, at a ceremony that heavy rain moved into Marble Plains Church, among the last landmarks of the community. The park opened on Labor Day weekend 1978, with all 20 cabins booked.
The Bear Trace, an 18-hole course by Jack Nicklaus, opened in 1999 on a lake peninsula at Wiseman Bend, its first holes rolling over former pasture. In 2011 the park opened a new visitor center and gathered trails such as the Old Spann House Trail into a heritage trail system, meant to tell of the families who lived here before the lake. The Spann house's foundation still stands near the paved bike trail.
When to go, and what to wear
The figures are NOAA's 1991–2020 normals for Tullahoma, about nine miles north. Spring suits the trails: April averages a high near 70°F and a low near 47°F, and March brings about 6 inches of rain, so pack a rain shell. The Evans Point Trail, the longest at about 10 miles, is rated difficult and follows the shore on a natural surface, so wear shoes that grip.
Summer is lake season, with July highs near 87°F and lows near 68°F. The park calls the lake a drowning risk, asks everyone on the water to wear a life jacket, and advises sunscreen and bug spray. On the open water, wear a light long-sleeve tee and a hat.
October is the driest month, with less than 4 inches of rain, highs near 71°F and lows near 48°F. Some trails cross into land open to hunters, the park warns, so wear a bright color in hunting season.
Winter is quiet, and the rangers suggest November through March for solitude. January averages a high near 48°F and a low near 29°F, and December is the wettest month, with more than 6 inches. Dress in layers with a windproof shell, and bring binoculars for the winter waterfowl the park lists at the Devilstep public use area.
Know before you go
- The cabins are closed for renovation, and the park's page gives no date for reopening. The Lynchburg Times reported in August 2025 that all 20, built in 1978 for seasonal use, would be renovated and made fit for winter, with work set to begin that November.
- Every campsite must be reserved. Turkey Creek's tent-only sites have no water or power, and backcountry campers carry out all their trash.
- Canoes and kayaks rent all year at the Fairview Campground. The Tims Ford Blueway, a paddle trail the City of Winchester developed with the park, TVA and others, has its map on the park's page.
- Cell service can be spotty, especially in busy seasons, and the main park area has no Wi-Fi, though the Fairview Campground does, so carry a trail map.
- Hours, fees and closures change, so check Tims Ford State Park's page before you go.
Sources: Tennessee Encyclopedia, "Tims Ford State Park" (Carroll Van West); National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places nomination, "Tims Ford Hydroelectric Project" (Andra Kowalczyk Martens and Phil Thomason, Thomason and Associates, 2016); Dollie Kathleen Boyd, "Remaking the Landscape for Recreation and Economic Development: The Impact of Tims Ford Reservoir on Franklin County, Tennessee," M.A. thesis, Middle Tennessee State University (2013); Franklin County TNGenWeb, "Historical Sites of Franklin County"; Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, news release of July 14, 2011, as printed by Chattanoogan.com; Terri Carter, "Tims Ford State Park prepping for renovations," The Lynchburg Times (August 21, 2025); Nicklaus Design, "The Bear Trace at Tims Ford"; Town of Estill Springs, "Tims Ford Blueway"; NOAA, U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020, Tullahoma station; Wikipedia; Tims Ford State Park, tnstateparks.com.
