Middle Fork Bottoms Recreation Center to open by fall

MADISON COUNTY, Tenn. — A new recreational area may soon be open.

There are currently 850 acres of empty fields, but, by fall, Middle Fork Bottoms Recreation Center will be open to the public.

“Its primary purpose is flood control, stormwater management, but it’s so big we thought, ‘Well, we can put a recreation component and help with the maintenance, make it something really nice for the community,’ and of course we want to do that,” said David Blackwood, director of the West Tennessee River Basin Authority.

The finished project will include five miles of paved trails, 10 bridges and four different lakes. One of those lakes is expected to be a 10-acre fishing lake.

“We have a lot of those components in different parks around here, but this recreational area kind of pulls it all together,” Blackwood said.

Jackson Chamber officials say they believe having the recreational area will improve West Tennesseans’ lives, but it will also bring more people to the area.

“When new businesses, new companies, are looking to locate, they look at quality of life, and having something big like this, that’s nice and helps promote getting outside and staying healthy. It’s going to be a really good thing,” Blackwood said.

The first phase of the project’s construction will be finished in October, and then restrooms and overlooks will begin in phase two of construction.

“I know everybody’s looking forward to the project, and we’re getting close. We’re getting really close, and I like everybody’s excitement. The community’s been really supportive, so thank you and continue doing that,” Blackwood said.

Blackwood says the second phase of the project will be finished by summer 2022.

For more information on the Middle Fork Bottoms project, click here.