Cheatham WMA - Main Road

I decided to go for a run at the Cheatham Wildlife Management Area yesterday evening. It was really hot even though it was overcast. The heat index today is 108 so it was at least 100 yesterday. I went about 7 miles very slowly. The knee held up pretty well, but I've got a lot of work to do to get back to where I was before the injury still, the heat didn't help much either.
The WMA is about 21,000 acres and it's located just north of Pegram and goes almost all the way to Ashland City. You can access it from several different locations. The main entrance is off of County Road 250, but I park at the gate just past the dump on Sam's Creek Road. From there you can do a pretty nice 13 mile out and back run to the park headquarters where you can get water and use the facilities if need be. The main road which I think is called Beeler Road is your typical fire road. Depending on the time of year you might run into some hunters or four wheelers, but I've never had any problems. One time there were a couple good ol' boys hunting raccoons with their dogs and I think they were so shocked to see some half naked furry man run by them they forgot to point their shotguns away from my face. This is not Percy Warner Park, you are in the country and there are people with guns. If that bothers you do not run here. I have seen only one person in the WMA without a motorized vehicle or a gun, the dude from Team Nashville riding his bike. The worst thing about running in the WMA is that it can get extremely hot and you have to cover a lot of distance completely exposed to the sun. In the fall and winter it's no big deal. If you really want a cool experience go for a full moon run once you know your way around.
I think I got all the negatives out of the way so why would anyone want to run on a gravel fire road in the heat surrounded by hunters? I've been running in the WMA for over a year pretty regularly and I've barely scratched the surface of the trails running through the park. It is huge. Before I got hurt I'd gotten where I could do ten or twelve miles pretty easy and I started exploring off of the main road. There are some great trails to find if you are looking for a place to explore. If you are looking for somewhere to just put down some miles and get some solitude there is no better place I've found. It is also a truly beautiful spot to see nature. The wildflowers lining the road are pretty awesome from spring through fall and while the hunters keep the deer population down there are a ton of turkey and coyotes in the park. It's pretty flat but you definitely have a few good climbs along the way if you want to do some hill work.
If you want to give the WMA a shot I recommend starting out running from the gate off of Sam's Creek to Pipe Line road. It's a bout 7 miles out and back and you can't miss the road to turn around.