Center Hill Lake
Without a Boat

Chase Waterfalls

Easy Falls · Bigger Adventures · Tennessee Scenery

If you leave Center Hill Lake without seeing at least one waterfall, you left some of the best scenery in this part of Tennessee untouched.

The landscape surrounding Smithville is full of water moving through limestone, forest, ravines, and the Highland Rim. Some falls require almost no hiking. Others reward people willing to earn the view.

That makes waterfalls one of the easiest ways to build a day around exactly the amount of adventure you want.

Get on a Trail

Forest · Ridges · Lake Views · Highland Rim

Center Hill Lake looks different when you step away from the road.

The surrounding trails move through hardwood forest, ridgelines, rocky terrain, and places where the lake appears through the trees almost without warning.

Hiking also changes the pace of a lake trip. Instead of trying to fill every hour with an attraction, you spend part of the day simply moving through the landscape that created the lake's character in the first place.

Go to the Water Anyway

Swimming · Fishing · Shoreline · Puckett Point

Not having a boat does not mean you have to admire Center Hill Lake from a distance.

At Puckett Point, the public lake access provides a simple way to get down to the water for swimming, fishing, or simply sitting near the shoreline without building the entire day around a marina.

Guests at The Little Lake House are approximately 0.2 mile from the Puckett Point boat ramp, fishing, and swimming area — about a one-minute drive down Puckett Point Road.

Discover the Craft Side of Smithville

Art · Handmade Work · Galleries · Mountain Modern Style

One of the things that surprises visitors is how naturally art and craft fit into the Center Hill Lake experience.

Tennessee Tech's Appalachian Center for Craft gives the area something very few lake destinations can claim: a serious institution devoted to fine craft, exhibitions, studios, workshops, and handmade work.

Add Smithville's boutiques, antique shops, and locally curated finds, and an afternoon away from the water can turn into one of the more distinctive parts of the trip.

Eat Your Way Around the Lake

Local Favorites · Lakeside Dining · Smithville

A day does not become less of a Center Hill Lake day because part of it happens around a table.

Smithville and the surrounding lake communities have enough personality in their restaurants to make food part of the trip rather than something you grab because everyone got hungry.

You can eat near the water, find casual local favorites, or make the drive into town and discover why some places have loyal followings that extend well beyond vacation season.

Look Past the Vacation Brochure

Local History · Churches · Community · Stories

There was a Center Hill region long before there was a Center Hill Lake vacation market.

The roads, churches, communities, and people around Smithville carry stories that disappear completely if your entire trip is spent moving between the cabin and the marina.

Tony's Guide includes local history because a place becomes more interesting once you understand that the landscape did not begin when you arrived for the weekend.

Take an afternoon. Drive slowly. Stop somewhere you did not plan to stop. Read the marker. Look at the old building. Ask what was here before the lake.

Let It Rain

Cabin Day · Slow Morning · No Schedule Required

Lake vacations have a strange relationship with weather. People spend months planning them and then act personally offended when it rains.

Don't.

Some of the best cabin days begin when the forecast takes the pressure off. Sleep later. Make another pot of coffee. Watch the rain move through the trees. Play a game. Put on a movie. Read something you brought but assumed you would never actually open.

Then decide what, if anything, you feel like doing next.

Stay at the Cabin

Hot Tub · Fire Pit · Sunrise · Wooded Privacy

This one sounds obvious until you realize how often people overbook their own vacation.

The cabin is not merely where you sleep between activities. At the right property, it is part of the reason you came.

At The Little Lake House, mornings can begin with sunrise through the trees. Afternoons can disappear on the deck. Evenings can move from the hot tub to the fire pit without requiring a reservation, a parking space, or an itinerary.

There is nothing wrong with having a day where the biggest decision is whether to leave the hot tub before or after another glass of wine.

Build Your No-Boat Day

Choose Your Mood · Then Build the Day