Region: West Tennessee
Time Zone: Central
Map courtesy of Tennessee Department of
Transportation.
Order a free paper
copy of the Official Tennessee Transportation Map.
Download entire transportation map.
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 of TN 51 from
Tiptonville is Reelfoot Lake.
Dorena, Missouri to Hickman, Kentucky Riverboat Ferry
Hickman, Kentucky
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
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
Tiptonville, TN
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."
