Day trips from Nashville · Park
Pickett CCC Memorial State Park
140 miles from downtown Nashville · about 2 hours 30 minutes
Tennessee State Parks, Fentress County, near Jamestown, TN
Pickett was certified a DarkSky International Dark Sky Park in 2015, the first in the Southeast, and it keeps an astronomy field open year round. It also has natural sandstone bridges, rock shelters, and glow worms.
- Dark sky status
- Certified 2015, first in the Southeast
- Glow worms
- Visible mid-May through July
- Trails
- Over 58 miles, connecting into Big South Fork
- Cabins
- 20, roughly $130 to $301
Permits, fees and access
Free entry, paid cabins and camping. The astronomy field is open year round.
One thing to know first
The whole point of this park is what happens after dark, which means you are driving two and a half hours home late at night on plateau roads. Book a cabin instead.
Access rules, fees and closures verified August 15, 2026 against the agency that manages this place. They change, sometimes without notice. Check before you drive.
I keep this list because it is genuinely how people spend weekends here, and because almost every guide to it is out of date. If you are weighing a move to Middle Tennessee and want to know which part of it puts you closest to the things you actually like, ask me. No pitch.