I live near Clarksville and the Cumberland is right there, and since I bought Doreen, my Raider Coastal 230 with a Honda 350 on the back, I've been keeping a pile of notes on boating on the Cumberland River around here. I don't have any secret fishing holes to give you, I just have what I've read and where I read it, so you can check my homework.
The quick lay of the land is that Clarksville sits on the upper end of the Lake Barkley pool, which is held up by Barkley Dam way downstream in Kentucky, and if you go upriver past town the next dam is Cheatham Lock and Dam on the way to Nashville. Barges use this river a lot, and they can't stop fast. Tennessee wants boater education if you were born after January 1, 1989, and the city has public ramps at Liberty Park and McGregor Park plus a few other access points. The rest of this is the longer version of all that.
How the river works around here
These days the Cumberland runs as a chain of Army Corps of Engineers lakes, one dam after another, and the Tennessee Encyclopedia walks through when each one went in, Wolf Creek and Old Hickory and Cheatham and Barkley and Cordell Hull. For us in Clarksville two of those matter the most.
The Corps says Lake Barkley is formed by Barkley Dam at river mile 30.6 and backs the river up 118.1 miles, all the way to Cheatham Dam at about mile 148.7, and Clarksville is inside that stretch. So when people say Lake Barkley they usually picture the wide water up in Kentucky, but technically our riverfront is the same lake, just the skinny upper end of it. I wrote a whole post on the Lake Barkley side of things if you want marinas and the lock.
Head upstream past Clarksville and you'll get to Cheatham Lock and Dam near Ashland City, and once you go through it you're on Cheatham Lake, which runs up to Nashville. The locks are one of the coolest parts of this river and probably one of the most intimidating if you've never done one, so I put together a lock-through guide from the TVA and Corps rules, mostly because I needed it myself.
Sharing the water with barges
This is the part I take the most seriously. The Cumberland is a working river, and the encyclopedia notes it still moves coal, oil and gravel. A towboat pushing a string of barges is long and heavy and slow to turn, and the pilot may not even be able to see a small boat close to the bow.
So going off what the Corps and the Coast Guard teach, I plan on staying way clear of tows and passing wide and never cutting across the bow, not anchoring or drifting in the sailing line, watching the wakes when we pass each other, and keeping a VHF radio on board since that's how the towboats and the locks talk. The Corps' "Stop! Look! Lock!" guidance is clear that commercial traffic gets priority at the locks, and I'm just assuming I'll be the smallest thing out there most of the time.
Where to put in
The City of Clarksville lists Billy Dunlop Park, Liberty Park, McGregor Park, Robert Clark Park and Trice Landing as public river access points on its Blueway page. For trailer boats the big two are Liberty Park at 1188 Cumberland Drive, where the city says there's a four-lane ramp into the Cumberland with Clarksville Marina right there, and McGregor Park at 640 N. Riverside Drive downtown along the RiverWalk, which has a ramp too.
I've got a full Clarksville boat ramps post with the rest, including Trice Landing near the Red River. I didn't list hours because I couldn't find official ones I trust, so I'd call Parks and Rec before a dawn launch.
The rules I'm making sure I follow
TWRA says anyone born after January 1, 1989 who runs a boat over 8.5 horsepower needs a boating safety certificate on them, and there's more on that in my Tennessee boating license post.
Tennessee law also requires kids 12 and under to wear a Coast Guard approved life jacket on an open deck while the boat is underway, which is straight from the TWRA boating handbook, and everybody else needs one on board. I'm gonna keep it simple and just have the kids wear them, period.
Lake Barkley also crosses the state line, so if you go far enough downstream you're in Kentucky waters under Kentucky rules, and Kentucky Fish and Wildlife has its own education rule for younger operators.
Stuff I still don't know
Honestly there's a lot. I don't know which ramp I'll end up calling home, and I have no idea how the lock crew at Cheatham feels about a raw aluminum boat with a hardtop showing up on a Saturday. We will see. Why I bought her is on the build page and in Who I Am and Why I'm Doing This, and the shop photos are in the gallery.
If you want the river's backstory before you go out, our two-minute film Film 04, The Cumberland covers the limestone and the flatboats and steamboats and Fort Donelson and the dams, and it kinda made me look at this water differently. If you'd rather read, the Cumberland River history post has the same story with sources.
FAQ
Is the Cumberland River safe for boating near Clarksville?
It's a busy commercial river with barge traffic, so safety comes down to the basics, like life jackets, a VHF radio, staying clear of tows and knowing the lock rules. The Corps and TWRA both publish guidance worth reading first.
What lake is Clarksville TN on?
Clarksville sits on the upper end of the Lake Barkley pool. The Corps says Barkley Dam impounds the Cumberland for 118.1 miles, up to Cheatham Dam, and Clarksville is inside that stretch.
Where can I launch a boat in Clarksville?
The city lists Liberty Park and McGregor Park as public boat ramps on the Cumberland, plus other Blueway access points like Trice Landing. Check with Clarksville Parks and Recreation for current hours and conditions.
Do I need a license to drive a boat on the Cumberland in Tennessee?
If you were born after January 1, 1989, and the boat has more than 8.5 horsepower, TWRA requires a boating safety education certificate on your person. There are exceptions, like having a qualifying adult on board.
