When despair grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting for their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
— Wendell Berry, The Peace of Wild Things
The park has many trails to hike, from easy half miles down to the falls viewing area (accessible by parking lot), to 10.8 miles through Sheltowee Trace and ending at the Laurel River. Since my brother and I hadn’t been to the park since we were young and wanted good views of the falls, we opted for the Eagle Falls trail, a fairly easy 1.5-mile trail that gives plenty of views of Cumberland Falls, takes you along the river and through lush forest, and ends in Eagle Falls.
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