Natchez Trace State Park is a

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...

located in western

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...

, in the United States. It was named for the historic

Natchez Trace The Natchez Trace, also known as the Old Natchez Trace, is a historic forest trail within the United States which extends roughly from Nashville, Tennessee, to Natchez, Mississippi, linking the Cumberland, Tennessee, and Mississippi rivers. ...

woodland path, an important wilderness trail during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The park covers more than and features several wilderness trails, camping, horseback riding, and waterfront activities.

History

Background

Natchez Trace State Park gets its name from the Natchez Trace, a

Natchez, Mississippi Natchez ( ) is the county seat of and only city in Adams County, Mississippi, United States. Natchez has a total population of 14,520 (as of the 2020 census). Located on the Mississippi River across from Vidalia in Concordia Parish, Louisiana, ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

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.''The Natchez Trace''
Tennessee Yesterday website; accessed April 2014. A western spur of the trace ran through part of the modern-day park.''The Natchez Trace''
Tennessee State Official Website; "Environment – Parks;" accessed April 2014.

The park

The park was built during the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Con ...

on land bought from residents who could no longer farm the land due to erosion. 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, of horse riding trails, a park store, and an archery range.

Park activities

Cub Lake () offers swimming,

jon-boat A jon boat (or johnboat) is a flat-bottomed boat constructed of aluminum, fiberglass, wood, or polyethelene with one, two, or three seats, usually bench type. They are suitable for fishing, hunting and cruising. The nearly flat hull of a jon boa ...

s 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 , 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, , and Maples Lake, , 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 of riding trails in the south end of the park.

Location

Natchez Trace is located in Carroll,

Henderson Henderson may refer to: People * Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname *Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada * ...

, and Benton counties, near the unincorporated community of Wildersville.

Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...

bisects the park, which is roughly equidistant from Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee.

References

External links

Natchez Trace State Park
{{authority control Natchez Trace State parks of Tennessee Protected areas of Benton County, Tennessee Protected areas of Carroll County, Tennessee Protected areas of Henderson County, Tennessee