Williamson County Parks and Recreation (WCPR) has opened a new park. Timberland Park, a new 72-acre rustic wooded preserve located at mile marker 437.2 on the historic Natchez Trace Parkway, opened on Saturday, November 1.
WCPR Director Doug Hood explained that the journey from private property to public park took several years. In 1975, Hood said, the Maxson family sold the 80 acres comprising Timberland Park to the State of Tennessee which had plans to build a folk arts center on the property. “That idea never came to fruition,” said Hood, “and the property was declared surplus by the state in 1996 and placed at auction.”
Hood, along with former Williamson County Commissioner Judy Hayes and former Williamson County-Franklin Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Nancy Conway, lobbied to acquire the property and developed an agreement with an adjoining property owner for a ten-acre ‘buffer zone.’ After 18 months of work with the State of Tennessee, the Natchez Trace Parkway, former National Park Service Superintendent Wendell Simpson, the Federal Highway Administration and others, an agreement was made to retain the land for its originally intended public use. The transfer of deed to Williamson County was finalized in May 1999. In a unique agreement, the Federal Highway Administration and the Williamson County Highway Department worked together to develop the park access road in 2007.
Hood and his staff developed a master plan for the property, which included honoring its roots as a hunting ground for the Mississippian culture (700 A.D.), a trade route for the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes (1600-1832), a logging site and as a point on the historic 440-mile Natchez Trace.
The park has a staffed, 2000-square-foot interpretive center on-site providing information and displays about the property, local trails and the Natchez Trace Parkway. Restrooms and fresh water are available in the center which features a three-story stone fireplace and attached deck. The interpretive center is a self-sustaining property, using solar panels that collect and store energy in batteries for electricity, rain water collection for irrigation, propane for the fireplace and a septic system for waste.
Timberland Park provides opportunities for hiking, bird watching and wildlife observation. Walking sticks made from trees on the property are available for use by hikers. Groups are welcome, and escorted visits can be pre-arranged. There is an ADA accessible trail with an overlook; plus a number of rustic, challenging trails throughout the property, some of which were derived from old logging roads. The forest features oak and hickory as well as other tree and plant species native to Middle Tennessee. Deer, raccoons, foxes, wild turkeys and squirrels roam the area.
A loop drive accommodates RVs. There is no entrance fee to the park, which is open from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. November through March; and from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. April through October.
To commemorate their involvement in the project, two of the walking trails have been named after Judy Hayes and Nancy Conway, and the overlook has been named after Phyllis Huffman, Administration and Planning Administrator for WCPR, who served as the department’s project coordinator.
To reach Timberland, access the Natchez Trace Parkway from Highway 96 West. At the top of the access ramp, turn left (south). The park is immediately on the right.
