Edgar Evins State Park

Headquartered in DeKalb County along Center Hill Lake, Edgar Evins State Park contains about 6,000 acres. The park is named in honor of state senator and Smithville civic capitalist James Edgar Evins, who was also the father of noted U.S. congressman Joe L. Evins. The park was created in 1968 as a cooperative effort. The state constructed and maintains the park's varied modern recreational facilities but leases the land from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which administers the Center Hill Dam and Reservoir. Fed by the Caney Fork and Falling Water Rivers, Center Hill Lake stretches some sixty-five miles, creating over four hundred miles of shoreline and covering over 20,000 acres of land in DeKalb, Putnam, White, and Warren Counties. Nearby are the Burgess Falls State Natural Area and Rock Island State Park.

Near the park on 180 acres overlooking Center Hill Lake is the Joe L. Evins Appalachian Center For Crafts. Built with federal funding from the Appalachian Regional Commission and opened in 1979, the center provides instruction and exhibits on a wide range of folk crafts. It has played a significant role in the preservation and continued vitality of traditional arts in the Cumberland Plateau. It is operated as part of the B.A. in Fine Arts degree program at Tennessee Technological University.