Natchez Trace State Park

For the Mississippi state park, see Trace State Park.
Natchez Trace State Park
Map showing the location of Natchez Trace State Park

Natchez Trace State Park location within Tennessee

Location Western Tennessee
Nearest city Wildersville
Coordinates 35°47′11″N 88°15′49″W / 35.7863°N 88.2636°W / 35.7863; -88.2636Coordinates: 35°47′11″N 88°15′49″W / 35.7863°N 88.2636°W / 35.7863; -88.2636
Area 10,154 acres (4,109 ha)
http://www.state.tn.us/environment/parks/NatchezTrace/

Natchez Trace State Park is a state park located in western Tennessee. It was named for the Natchez Trace woodland path that was an important wilderness road during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The 10,000-plus acre park features several wilderness trails, camping, sporting, horse-back riding, and water front activities.

History

Background

Natchez Trace State Park gets its name from the Natchez Trace, a Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee woodland highway that was an important wilderness road for the American frontiersmen during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It had been in use as a trade path by the American Indians, however, for hundreds of years before that.[1] A western spur of the trace ran through part of the modern-day park.[2]

The park

The 10,154-acre (4,109 ha) park was built during the New Deal on land bought from residents who could no longer farm the land due to erosion.[2] Along with many acres of woodlands, the land included four lakes. A swimming beach and a 47-room resort inn and restaurant complex were built. Today, the park includes cabins, a group lodge, camping areas, picnicking sites, playgrounds, a ball-field, a regulation pistol firing range, hiking trails, a wrangler camp, 250 miles (400 km) of horse riding trails, a park store, and an archery range.

Park activities

Cub Lake, October 2015.

Cub Lake (58 acres (230,000 m2)) offers swimming, jon-boats and paddle boats. Boats are rented between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Cub Lake offers a free public swim beach.

The large recreational lake, Pin Oak Lake at 690 acres (2.8 km2), features two boat ramps. Water skiing in the park is allowed on this lake only. Other activities are fishing, picnicking, swimming, R.V. camping and more. Over-night guests are not required to have a permit. The Pin Oak Lodge offers a swimming pool for inn and cabin guests.

Browns Lake, 167 acres (0.68 km2), and Maples Lake, 90 acres (360,000 m2), each have a single boat ramp. Jon-boats, life jackets and paddles are made available on a first-come, first-served basis, and permits are available at both sites.

Natchez Trace Park has 250 miles (400 km) of riding trails in the south end of the park.

Location

Natchez Trace is located in Carroll, Henderson, and Benton counties, near the unincorporated community of Wildersville. Interstate 40 bisects the park, which is roughly equidistant from Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee.

References

  1. The Natchez Trace; Tennessee Yesterday website; accessed April 2014.
  2. 1 2 The Natchez Trace; Tennessee State Official Website; "Environment – Parks;" accessed April 2014.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, October 23, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.