Denny Cove Climbing

Denny Cove is a popular climbing and hiking area within South Cumberland State Park (SCSP), just south of Foster Falls. With around 1.5 mile of cliffline, it's a large climbing area with dozens of individual sub-crags and routes of all grades. Hikers also frequent the area, walking to the overlook above Denny East, to the waterfall at the head of the cove, or along the cliffline trail.

Denny Cove is divided into two main climbing sectors, Denny East (climber's right) and Denny West (climber's left). The main trail drops from the top of the bluff into the cove and splits the cliffline into these two sectors. Denny West offers a good concentration of more moderate routes (but still plenty up to 5.12+), multiple sectors including a trad zone, and a shorter approach. Denny East extends for a mile or more, and breaks down into many sub-areas, including the showpiece Buffet Wall, but countless others well deserving of attention.

The climbing's fantastic and it's a destination-worthy crag with standout routes and sectors, like Buffet Wall. Climbing terrain and rock vary, from wildly steep bunkers to techy faces, and a few cracks here and there. Rock quality also covers the Cumberland spectrum, from chunky, blocky choss to perfect, bullet hard panels and tiers--often all in one route. Overall, route and rock quality are great, and if you've been to Foster Falls, Little River Canyon or Obed, you'll feel right at home (with your stick clip too). There are more than 100 routes currently, with great potential for more in the future, especially in the moderate range. Information on the process of installing new routes can be found on the Southeastern Climbers Coalition website.

Denny Cove is a great climbing-conservation success story for TN. The area became a state park through a conservation effort led by SCC, Access Fund, The Conservation Fund, and Land Trust for TN. This group mobilzed a purchase of the entire 685 acre cove, buying the area from a timber company. Financial support came from funders like Open Space Institute, Lyndhurst Foundation, Benwood Foundation, High Point Climbing & Fitness, Stone Summit climbing gym, and countless donations from the wider climbing community. SCC temporarily held the property, and Access Fund and SCC teamed up to build the parking lot, improve the road, and build the entire trail system now used and enjoyed by climbers and hikers. An army of climbing volunteers and the Access Fund Conservation Team pushed this effort to completion. With TN's support, the area became a new state park in 2017.

The gate closes 30 minutes after sunset CENTRAL time. Please plan accordingly.

Please follow all Tennessee State Park rules and regulations during your visit. Do the daily climbing registration permit--it's easy and online.

http://tnstateparks.com/about/policies

For questions about Denny Cove please feel free to stop by the South Cumberland State Park Visitor Center. We are located at 11745 US 41 Monteagle, TN 37356 (appx. 25 minutes from Denny Cove). You can also call us anytime between the 8 and 4:30 (931-924-2980)