Mousetail Landing State Park

Mousetail Landing State Park is a 1,247-acre (5.05 km²) state park located on the eastern bank of the Tennessee River in Perry County, Tennessee near Linden. The park was established in 1979, making it one of the more recent additions to the Tennessee State Parks system.^[1] The name is thought to have been derived from an event during the American Civil War in which a tannery located at a river landing on the site of the present day state park caught fire. The tannery was infested with an unusually large number of mice which fled the burning tannery in the direction of the landing, giving the landing its present name.^[2]

Mousetail Landing State Park
Type	Tennessee State Park
Location	Linden, TN
Coordinates	35.6537°N 88.0126°W / 35.6537; -88.0126
Area	1,247 acres (505 ha)
Created	1986
Operated by	Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation
Status	open year round
Website	Official website

The park has 11 miles (18 km) of trails, 24 prepared campsites, a swimming beach, a boat landing, sports fields and courts, an archery range and an enclosed event pavilon.^[2] Also located within the park are several archeological ruins, including the original landing pier, a blacksmith shop, and Parrish Cemetery.^[1]

Soils in the park have brown silt loam topsoil over brown or red silty clay loam to clay. Chert and gravel commonly occur. The bedrock is limestone with varying amounts of chert and phosphate.^[3]

Perry County tourism authorities claim that there are around 250,000 visitors to Mousetail Landing State Park per annum.^[4] In 2020, the park reported that campsites were full on most weekends. There were over 3,100 campsite rentals that year, up from 2,149 in 2019. The increase in visitors was probably due to the COVID-19 pandemic encouraging outdoor activity.^[5] The park reportedly generated $14.3 million in economic impact to Perry County in 2021.^[6]

References

1. Van West, Carroll (March 1, 2018). "Mousetail Landing State Park". Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture. Tennessee Historical Society. Archived from the original on July 29, 2022.
2. "Mousetail Landing State Park". Tennessee State Parks. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
3. "SoilWeb (Mousetail Landing State Park)". Archived from the original on November 19, 2021.
4. "Perry County Tourism Booklet '22 - '23". 1257.newstogo.us/. Archived from the original on December 15, 2022. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
5. "Record Breaking Year for Mousetail State Park". Perry County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism. Perry County Government. Archived from the original on July 29, 2022. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
6. "Mousetail's Economic Impact: $14.3 Million In Fiscal Year 2021". Buffalo River Review. March 23, 2022.

External links

Media related to Mousetail Landing State Park at Wikimedia Commons

• Mousetail Landing State Park at Tennessee State Parks
• "Mousetail Landing State Park brochure" (PDF). Tennessee State Parks. 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 25, 2022.