Booker T. Washington State Park is named in honor of the famous leader, Booker Taliaferro Washington. Born into slavery and freed by the age of nine, Washington fought throughout his life to earn a higher education. Washington’s dedication earned him a scholarship into Hampton Normal Agriculture Institute for Freedman in Hampton, Va. He is best known for being former president of the Tuskegee Institute, a black organization for higher education. Washington strongly believed that agriculture and vocational education was the key to advance a newly freed race to a better life and not the pursuit of civil rights.

Situated on the shores of scenic Chickamauga Lake, not far from the city of Chattanooga, is the 353-acre Booker T. Washington State Park. Many visitors enjoy the phenomenal scenery through the challenging, yet rewarding, six-mile mountain biking trail. The park is also equipped with an Olympic size swimming pool that includes a diving board and children’s wading pool. The park has three large picnic pavilions, each accommodating up to 60 people as well as the more than 30 individual picnic sites located throughout the park. Each picnic site is equipped with grills and water spigots nearby. Pavilions may be reserved up to one year in advance.



Booker T. Washington State Park

The Justin P. Wilson Cumberland Trail State Scenic Trail State Park, a Tennessee scenic hiking trail, became Tennessee’s 53rd state park in 1998. It is Tennessee’s first linear park, cutting through 11 Tennessee counties. In 2002, the park was renamed for Justin P. Wilson in honor of his work to help make the vision of the Cumberland Trail a reality. Wilson was Tennessee’s Deputy Governor from 1996-2003 and currently serves as the state’s Comptroller.

The Cumberland Trail follows a line of pristine high ridges and deep gorges lying along Tennessee’s Cumberland Plateau. The state is continuing to partner with the Cumberland Trails Conference (CTC), an associate organization of the Tennessee Trails Association, and other volunteers to solicit public and private support for the acquisition of additional land along the trail. Once completed, the hiking trail will extend 282 miles from Cumberland Gap, on the Tennessee, Virginia and Kentucky border to the Tennessee River Gorge, on the Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia border.

State Parks Tagged With: Chattanooga