Brushy Lake Area

[elbowman]

Hello All,

I am wondering what the trails are like around Brushy Lake? Seems like a trail following the creek downstream after the dam.
Where does the trail go? How long of a trail?

There also seems to be a deep canyon off the right side of the road as you go down the hill towards the lake and parking area.
Any trails up the canyon?

Thanks. Eric

[Old Hickory]

I camped out below the spillway a a few weekends ago. The trail follows the creek downstream about a mile until the canyon begins to get narrow and steep, then it peters out into the brush. If you push on past, the going gets really tough. The sides of the canyon are steep, covered with thick brush and make for difficult travel. I like the area because it sees little use and is nice and quiet. It's a great place for secluded hammock camping. All the nice areas for tent campsites are within a few minutes of the spillway. The farther down the creek you go, the rougher the terrain.

I left my car at the Recreation Area and suffered some slight vandalism. This was during a midweek trip, so nobody was around. Next time I will rent a campsite, park at the campground next door and hike down the creek.

[WolfVanZandt]

I assume the drop off to the side of the road is the Brushy Lake area. It's in a gorge and I didn't see any side canyons. There are two trails in the park. One goes along the lake to the spillway and the other goes up to and along the base of the bluffs where there are several waterfalls (according to how much water is coming off the rim). If you go up the trail to the bluff and take a right instead of the more clearly maintained left, there's a really pretty little amphitheater shaped waterfall. Also, if you continue on the road across the creek and up to the top of the hill, there's a really nice waterfall in the woods (you can hear it from the road at the post labeled "Water Valve".)