The Collins River is a 67-mile-long (108 km)[1] stream in the east-central portion of Middle Tennessee in the United States.

Flowing northwestwardly, the Collins passes under State Route 399 (Barkertown Road) before entering Savage Gulf, a scenic gorge where the river gradually descends 800 feet to the Highland Rim.

Just east of McMinnville, the river absorbs its key tributary, Barren Fork, and passes under U.S. Route 70S.

After winding its way northward for several miles, the river eventually turns eastward, passing under State Route 288 (Hennessee Bridge Road) as it enters the slack waters of Great Falls Lake.

The Collins River watershed covers 811 square miles (2,100 km2), and drains parts of Warren, Grundy, Van Buren, Sequatchie, Coffee, and Cannon counties.

[9] The upper parts of the river along the Cumberland Plateau flow along Pennsylvanian-era siltstone, shale and sandstone.

[8] During the late 18th century, the Old Kentucky Road, which roughly followed an old Indian path, crossed the Collins River at Shells Ford, near modern McMinnville.

[12] In the late 19th century, businessman Asa Faulkner constructed a wooden bridge across the mouth of the river as part of his Falls City development.