C01: Lake County

Region: West Tennessee
Time Zone: Central

From Memphis, follow U.S. 51 north to Dyersburg. From Dyersburg, follow, TN 78 north to Tiptonville. At Tiptonville, you will find TN 21 which runs west to the Mississippi River. To the east on TN 51 from Tiptonville is Reelfoot Lake.

Things to see in Lake County and north in Kentucky

Dorena, Missouri to Hickman, Kentucky Riverboat Ferry

The Dorena-Hickman Toll Ferry
Located at the Mississippi River
Hickman, Kentucky
Phone: (731) 693-0210
www.dorena-hickmanferryboat.com

Located about 22 miles north of Tiptonville, Tennessee, this toll ferry connects Hickman, Kentucky, with Dorena, Missouri. Passengers drive their vehicles (cars, SUV's, etc.) onto a barge, and a tugboat pushes the barge to the other side of the Mississippi River. If you like, you can turn around on the other side and immediately ride back to your starting point. The toll is approximately $10.00 for a one-way trip and $15.00 for a round-trip. While on the barge, you can stay in your car or get out to watch the water go by. If you've never been on a car ferry before, this is a fun trip! For more information and schedules, please see:
www.dorena-hickmanferryboat.com. (Photo courtesy of the Dorena, MO - Hickman, KY Riverboat Ferry.)

Mississippi River

Tiptonville, Tennessee

If you head west from Tiptonville on TN 21, TN 21 will end at the Mississippi River. There is a small park that's a great place to watch the traffic going up and down the river. Note: there is neither a bridge nor a ferry to cross the Mississippi River at this point.

Reelfoot Lake State Park

Reelfoot Lake State Park
2595 State Route 21E,
Tiptonville, TN 38079
Park Office (731) 253-8003
Eagle tours (731) 253-9652
Reservations (731) 253-9652
Visitor Center (731) 253-9652
http://state.tn.us/environment/parks/ReelfootLake/index.shtml

Reelfoot Lake State Park, located in the northwest corner of Tennessee, is one of the greatest hunting and fishing preserves in the nation. The lake encompasses 25,000 acres (15,000 of which are water) and harbors almost every kind of shore and wading bird, as well as the golden and American bald eagles. Other animals are also diverse and abundant here. Its many species of flowering and non-flowering plants attract botany enthusiasts from all over the country. Cypress dominates the margins of the lake, but many other trees and shrubs are also present.

Reelfoot Lake is noted for its variety of game fish including bream, white and black crappie, several species of catfish, large mouth bass, and yellow bass. Many types of rough fish are also in the lake including carp, gar, bowfin, drum and shad.

The visitor's center, campgrounds, bathrooms, boardwalk, fishing piers and picnic areas are wheelchair accessible. Reelfoot Lake State Park spans Lake Counties and Obion Counties in Tennessee.

Reelfoot Lake is a by-product of the New Madrid Earthquakes. A series of 1,874 recorded tremors centered generally about 70 miles southwest of the lake in Missouri took place from December 16, 1811 to March 8, 1812. The "hard shock" came at 3 a.m., Friday, February 7, 1812, and could be felt over an area of one million square miles from Canada to the eastern seaboard to New Orleans. Witnesses reported that the earth and river were torn with furious convulsions and created sunken lands, fissures, landslides and land domes. It is said that, for a time, the Mississippi River flowed backwards filling in the newly-sunk area now know as Reelfoot Lake. (Photo above courtesy of Tennessee state Parks.)

New Madrid Earthquake

On the road between Tiptonville, Tennessee and Hickman, Kentucky, you will find a historic marker for the New Madrid Earthquake. The sign reads: "New Madrid Earthquake. The greatest earthquake recorded in North America centered in this area Dec. 16, 1811 to Feb. 7, 1812. 1,874 quakes were felt at Louisville, 250 miles away. Tremors also felt at Boston, Detroit, New Orleans. Reelfoot Lake, covering 25,000 acres, formed when some streams changed courses. New Madrid, Mo. destroyed; very few persons died, as population of area was sparse."