Tennessee is one of America's most beautiful and popular travel destinations and this unique guide book introduces readers to the fifty-six state parks scattered from the East Tennessee mountains to the Mississippi River on the state's western border. It offers a complete recreation guide to the opportunities available in Tennessee parks and is the perfect guidebook for families, tourists, hikers, nature lovers, campers, anglers, history buffs, golfers, and outdoor enthusiasts.
A complete tour guide to the Volunteer State from the highlands of the Smoky Mountains to the banks of the Mississippi River. Tennessee is a state of endless diversity. It boasts breath-taking scenery, the homes of three presidents, and the birthplace of legendary frontiersman Davy Crockett. It is the birthplace of the blues and the home of the King of rock ‘n’ roll. It offers a wealth of opportunities for hiking, canoeing, fishing, and wildlife viewing in state and national parks, recreation areas, and forests. From mountain highroads to delta lands, this comprehensive guide invites you to the best of Tennessee’s bed and breakfasts, museums, historic sites, restaurants, antique shops, and such attractions as: The Great Smoky Mountains National Park The National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough The South’s favorite outlet shopping in Pigeon Forge Coker Creek, the site of Tennessee’s gold rush World-class whitewater rafting on the Obed and Ocoee Rivers The Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area The Chattanooga Choo Choo and the Tennessee State Aquarium Civil War battlefields like Stones River and Shiloh The Jack Daniel Distillery in Lynchburg The Natchez Trace Parkway Musical venues from the Grand Ole Opry to Beale Street The largest Middle Woodland Indian Mound in the southeast A half-mile-long reproduction of the Mississippi River Traveling Tennessee does more than get you where you want to go. It also educates you about the state’s heritage, excites you about its vacation possibilities, and entertains you with accounts of the authors’ own experiences.
Features 62 of the best hiking areas from natural wonders of Great Smoky Mountains National Park to the historical Civil War battlefields of Shiloh and Lookout Mountain.
A description of the citizen-led effort to get Americans out of their cars and into the landscape via greenways - linear open spaces that preserve and restore nature in cities, suburbs and rural areas. These can link parks and open spaces and provide corridors for wildlife migration.
Was Nashville once home to a giant race of humans? No, but in 1845, you could have paid a quarter to see the remains of one who allegedly lived here before The Flood. That summer Middle Tennessee well diggers had unearthed the skeleton of an American mastodon. Before it went on display, it was modified and augmented with wooden "bones" to make it look more like a human being and passed off as an antediluvian giant. Then, like so many Nashvillians, after a little success here, it went on tour and disappeared from history. But this fake history of a race of Pre-Nashville Giants isn't the only bad history of what, and who, was here before Nashville. Sources written for schoolchildren and the public lead us to believe that the first Euro-Americans arrived in Nashville to find a pristine landscape inhabited only by the buffalo and boundless nature, entirely untouched by human hands. Instead, the roots of our city extend some 14,000 years before Illinois lieutenant-governor-turned-fur-trader Timothy Demonbreun set foot at Sulphur Dell. During the period between about AD 1000 and 1425, a thriving Native American culture known to archaeologists as the Middle Cumberland Mississipian lived along the Cumberland River and its tributaries in today's Davidson County. Earthen mounds built to hold the houses or burials of the upper class overlooked both banks of the Cumberland near what is now downtown Nashville. Surrounding densely packed village areas including family homes, cemeteries, and public spaces stretched for several miles through Shelby Bottoms, and the McFerrin Park, Bicentennial Mall, and Germantown neighborhoods. Other villages were scattered across the Nashville landscape, including in the modern neighborhoods of Richland, Sylvan Park, Lipscomb, Duncan Wood, Centennial Park, Belle Meade, White Bridge, and Cherokee Park. The book is the first effort by legitimate archaeologists to articulate the history of what happened here before Nashville happened.
The story of Tennessee's state parks began more than 80 years ago when New Deal agencies worked to rebuild portions of Tennessee's eroded landscape. Along with these conservation measures, the state's early parks were created through the development of recreational areas. The Tennessee Valley Authority built dams that contributed to recreational attractions, and the Division of State Parks was started in 1937. All of these efforts in addition to Tennessee's natural beauty have resulted in 56 state parks. Through their postcard collections, the authors invite readers to discover each park's special place in Tennessee's history and landscape.
