Walk the Bridge

Walking trails surrounding Couchville Lake offer views of lovely lakeside scenery

STORY BY BRACKEN MAYO PHOTOS BY SARAH MAYO

Within Long Hunter State Park sits Couchville Lake, and a 2.1-mile trail encircling it. This loop, paved all the way around, makes a pleasant place to walk or run around the smaller Couchville Lake, just to the east of the sprawling Percy Priest Lake, about midway between La Vergne and Mt. Juliet.

The area attracted quite a few walkers, runners and birdwatchers, along with a few fisherpeople scattered along the lakeshore, on a recent sunny weekend afternoon.

The paved Couchville Lake Trail is stroller- and wheelchair-friendly, for the most part, though some healthy tree roots have disrupted the pavement at certain points. The trail is mostly level with little elevation change, and under heavy shade for the majority of the trail, even in winter.

While the trail loops around the lake near the shoreline for much of its duration, on the north end of Couchville Lake it actually travels over the lake. A 400-foot wooden footbridge sits over the lake and completes the loop, making a unique feature of the park. Standing on the middle of this bridge offers a lovely view of the lake below and the whole scene.

Aside from strollers and wheelchairs, the Couchville Lake Trail is open only to human foot traffic—no pets or bicycles or other wheeled vehicles allowed.

(For cyclists looking for some riding trails, however, Long Hunter State Park does indeed offer 9 miles of bike trails on the southern end of the park, not far from the Fate Sanders Marina outside of Smyrna, in the Bryant Grove section of Long Hunter State Park.)

A sign tells those entering the Couchville Lake Tail to allow an hour for the 2-plus-mile journey around the lake, about right for a casually moving family stopping a few times to take in the natural scenes, but those keeping a jogging pace can complete the two miles much more quickly.

The water level of Couchville Lake was way down in January, but the water surface was beautiful, reflecting the setting sun.

The low water level revealed lots of large rocks along the edge of the lake, in portions often underwater; the exposed rocks gave visitors more terrain to explore on this day of shallow water.

Boaters may use the calm surface of Couchville Lake for practice on kayaks, canoes and stand-up paddleboards, but state park officials close this small lake to swimming and motorized boats—there’s plenty of space for swimming, boating and fishing in nearby Percy Priest.

If You Go

Long Hunter State Park

2910 Hobson Pk., Hermitage, Tennessee 888-867-2757

To find the Couchville Lake Trailhead, coming from the Old Hickory Boulevard exit of I-24, turn right into Long Hunter State Park just after crossing over Percy Priest Lake on Hobson Pike. Pass the visitor center and park office, and then take a left to get to the Couchville Lake Trail parking area.

Rutherford County Property Assessor

ROB MITCHELL has strategically taken a new position—he still serves as property assessor, but recently Mitchell has made it his mission to promote the game of chess in the community, particularly among its youth.

He sees it as a way to increase critical thinking among people of all ages.

“Children who play chess, research has shown, their reading competency rose from 62% to 82% in one study,” Mitchell said.

Proponents of the game say that chess can enhance overall cognitive abilities, concentration, creativity, focus, problem solving, planning skills and anticipation.

Chess could potentially help people stay out of jail, Mitchell deduces, by helping them with planning ahead, strategy, sacrifice, focus, predicting a few moves in advance, and other skills applicable to the chessboard and to real life. If more people would take a moment to thoughtfully consider their current position and available moves, the potential outcomes and consequences of their actions, that could help them make better life choices and avoid impulsive, foolish decisions, making society better for all.

“By not reacting to every attack, you slow down and look at the consequences,” he said.

“I would like every school to offer an elective: critical thinking and chess,” Mitchell continued, saying that two inspirational chess movies, Life of a King and Critical Thinking, have really been influential in sparking his chess activism.

Further, he envisions a local chess mentoring system of community leaders, educators, professionals, law enforcement members and anyone who cares teaching the game to youth and those coming out of the jail or emerging from addiction.

Mitchell said Rutherford County is locking up too many juveniles and that society needs to consider that the approach of repeatedly locking up minor offenders is not teaching them to implement better life strategies and equipping them with improved critical thinking skills.

Perhaps being introduced to chess could help a few individuals with planning, focus, anticipation and strategy.

“The goal is to change people’s lives and teach them to think better,” Mitchell said. “Catch them earlier to change some ‘drawers’ from society into ‘contributors’ to society.”

He has observed that it helps with the