250 miles, trail difficulty: beginner to intermediate
Address: 24845 Natchez Trace Road Wildersville, TN 38388
Phone: 731 968 3742
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://tnstateparks.com/parks/activity-detail/natchez-trace-horseback-riding
Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/NatchezTraceStateParkTN/
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Getting here – two lane country roads to state park entrance
2. Parking & Trailers – one-way roads with pull through and back in gravel parking at day use area and wrangler’s camp.
3. Family Friendly – yes
4. Trail Difficulty – beginner to intermediate.
5. Trail Info – gravel on forest roads, wagon friendly state forest roads, sandy trail footing, mostly shaded, some ruts, can be muddy.
6. Amenities – restrooms, tie rails, wash bay and stalls at barn, nearby fishing lakes, restaurant, park store, picnic tables.
7. Events & entertainment – organized rides by permit only.
8. Lodging – 25 fully furnished cabins (up to 7-mile drive from barn)
9. Hookups – 62 RV sites with water and electric (30/50 amp) with dump station.
10. Stalls – 13 stalls with lights and water (bring hay and shavings).
Other/notable:
Bring your own shavings, hay and manure fork.
With many acres of scenic woodlands, Natchez Trace State Park offers many options for the equine enthusiast. There are over 250 miles of public use forest roads and trails for horseback riding.
The Wrangler Campground offers camping, bathhouses, electric and water hook-ups at over 60 sites. Each campsite has a horse rail so you can camp with your horse.
If you prefer to board your horse, the Natchez Trace Equestrian Center also offers 13 horse stalls for rent on a nightly basis.
You can book a wrangler campsite or a horse stall online at https://reserve.tnstateparks.com/natchez-trace/campsites.
A negative Coggins test is required for any equine activity.
Under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal Program approximately 48,000 acres of land were purchased in the area of the park. This purchase provided jobs for many people. Programs such as the Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration established many of the buildings still being used today and laid the foundation for what is now Natchez Trace State Park at the core of the large tract of public lands.
The park’s hiking trails, range from a one-half mile up to 4.5 miles, and a 40 mile overnight trail. The trails wind through the forest and fields and along the lakeshores and streams of Natchez Park. Visitors also enjoy the museum that features local and park history, picnic facilities, camping, cabins and lodges, boating and the park’s restaurant.
The park offers activities for visitors of all ages. Fishing is a favorite activity at Natchez Trace and anglers have four lakes from which to choose. Fifty-eight acre Cub Lake and 690 acre Pin Oak Lake are operated by Tennessee State Parks, while 90 acre Maple Creek Lake and 167 acre Brown’s Creek Lake are operated by Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
Natchez Trace State Park is one of the few parks that have an onsite wrangler camp. Located 2.2 miles south of I-40 on Hwy. 114 the Bucksnort Wrangler Camp features 65 campsites with full hook-ups, two bathhouses and a dump station. There are 250 miles of riding trails on the south end of the park in the Natchez Trace State Forest operated by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture.
Natchez Trace State Park is located on an alternate route of the old Natchez Trace. This route of the old trace is on the opposite side of the Tennessee River from the Natchez Trace Parkway. The name originally applied to a series of trails and paths that originated with animal migration routes and American Indian trade and travel routes. These were later used by returning boatmen that had floated goods to markets in Natchez and New Orleans from the Nashville area.