Cross Creeks National Wildlife Refuge is a part of the U.S. system of National Wildlife Refuge

National Wildlife Refuge

National Wildlife Refuge is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the world's premiere system of public lands and waters set aside to conserve America's fish, wildlife and plants...

s located along the Lake Barkley

Lake Barkley

Lake Barkley, a reservoir in Livingston, Lyon, and Trigg counties in Kentucky and extending into Stewart and Houston counties in Tennessee, was impounded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1966 upon the completion of Barkley Dam. Both the lake and the dam are named for Vice President Alben...

 impoundment of the Cumberland River

Cumberland River

The Cumberland River is a waterway in the Southern United States. It is long. It starts in Harlan County in far southeastern Kentucky between Pine and Cumberland mountains, flows through southern Kentucky, crosses into northern Tennessee, and then curves back up into western Kentucky before...

 in Stewart County, Tennessee near Dover

Dover, Tennessee

Dover is a city in Stewart County, Tennessee, United States, westnorthwest of Nashville on the Cumberland River. An old national cemetery is in Dover. The population was 1,442 at the 2000 census...

, covering 8862 acres (35.9 km²). It provides habitat for a wide variety of waterfowl and aquatic plant life in what is a largely wetlands environment. Cross Creeks is the only National Wildlife Refuge located entirely in Middle Tennessee

Middle Tennessee

Middle Tennessee is a distinct portion of the state of Tennessee, delineated according to state law as the 41 counties in the Middle Grand Division of Tennessee....

 as of 2006.

External links

• Official website U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service