Today, Reelfoot Lake is recognized as a unique recreational gem of Tennessee. The best way to experience this out-of-this-world wetland is by boat. Five public boat launches, scattered all over the state park, provide easy access. Fall colors and the shorebird viewing season are two factors to consider when planning a boat trip, but most important are the wind speed and directions. Check the forecast, as the wind can literally change the course of your trip. Accommodations for Reelfoot Lake visitors are wide-ranging.
Numerous resorts line the shores of the lake, and the construction of some small cabins is currently underway at the south end of the lake. These days, the 15, acres of water in Reelfoot Lake State Park brings visitors from all over the country to explore its many basins, all nestled in a thick cover of bald cypress trees.
Despite this draw, otherworldly solitude can still be found in the ditches and basins some natural, others man-made that the lake fingers out into. Exploring the mile length and seven-mile width of the lake could take a lifetime. More bayou than lake, Reelfoot is home to a huge array of plant species. Fishing Information Hunting Information. Eagle Information. Fishing Report. Waterfowl Seasons. River Levels Contact Us.
Between mid-December and mid-March a series of catastrophic earthquakes shook West Tennessee and the rest of the Central Mississippi Valley. Judging from reports and eyewitness accounts, the quakes would have measured among the highest ever recorded on the modern Richter scale.
Some reports said that the quakes were strong enough to awaken sleepers in Washington, D. The first of these historic quakes occurred in the St. Francis River area of northeast Arkansas; the second struck five weeks later and several miles to the northeast. Two weeks after that the third and strongest of the three quakes hit the area, with its epicenter still further north, at the little river port town of New Madrid, Missouri. The last of these three quakes is estimated to be the strongest ever recorded on the North American continent.
Geologists associate this early quake activity with the New Madrid or Central United States seismic zone. This ill-defined series of deeply buried faults runs roughly parallel to the Mississippi River Valley. A side branch also extends into the Reelfoot Lake region of northwest Tennessee. Since the affected region was a sparsely settled frontier, few written accounts exist of the early quakes.
The explorers halted at the first bluffs and began their surveys. Here the initials H. In June the Lauderdale County Court placed a bronze marker 60 feet east of the original site.
This line today marks the main Church street of Tiptonville. Tennessee became a state in ; but West Tennessee was not then a part of the state, being still Indian country. It was not until that Andrew Jackson and Isaac Shelby inveigled the Chickasaws into signing a treaty by which this beautiful country was added to the domain of Tennessee.
That river now is included in the lake where it can clearly be seen because of the fact that no trees nor stumps lie in its channel. According to the Indian legend, Reelfoot, a chieftain of the Chickasaws, in the course of his wanderings, met and fell violently in love with Starlight, princess of the Choctaws. Forbidden by her father to marry her, he and his braves stole her. After the return home, as they celebrated the success of the venture, the earth opened up and swallowed the whole tribe as an indication of the wrath of the gods.
This legend, as is the way of legends, has its weak points. Students of the Chickasaw language tell us that Reelfoot is not an Indian name. We find also that very few Indians lived in this section at that time, it being reserved as a hunting ground through which they passed from time to time. History is more reliable. It states that Reelfoot Lake was formed during the earthquakes of
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