The over 30,638-acre (123.99 km2)[1] park is centered on the upper Cane Creek Gorge, an area known for its unique geological formations and scenic waterfalls.

During this stretch, part of the creek disappears underground into limestone sinks and reemerges at a spring known as "Crusher Hole.

"[2] Cane Creek continues to lose elevation before steadying near its confluence with Dry Fork.

[4] The plateau areas above the Cane Creek Gorge are characterized by poor soil and weak resource potential, both exacerbated by the area's limited accessibility (by the 1920s, no major railroads and one crude highway passed between Pikeville and Spencer).

In the early 20th century, this section of Van Buren County still had only a handful of farms and no major coal mining or logging operations.

This project included the construction of a new hotel, cabins, two pools, restaurant, amphitheater, general store, golf course, nature center, and trails.

[23] The buildings were designed with a brutalist architecture, having a combination of dark brick, and gray concrete with an exposed aggregate of smooth white, beige, tan, and brownish river stones.

Built in the 1960s, with a rooms-only annex in the 1970s, they were closed in early April 2018 and demolished later that year, after Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam pushed for privatization and potential concessionaires refused to bid on serving the older facilities at the state's resort parks.

Cost overruns and underestimates, and a tight labor market in such a rural area, led to a need for more money from the Tennessee General Assembly in 2019, in turn allowing construction to resume in the autumn.

Both counties objected to the long-term closure of the inn due to the significant loss of lodging taxes and sales taxes, as well as employees who would be left without a job or forced to relocate or commute long distances to other state parks, even when the closure and reconstruction were expected to be far shorter.

Proposals to build on the opposite side of the lake before closing the original inn were declined, largely to due to the lack of sufficient sewerage facilities there.

Artist Gilbert Gaul, who gained national acclaim for his Civil War illustrations, operated from a studio south of Spencer on land currently owned by the park.