TN River Trail to Bring Tourism to West TN
This video is no longer available.
You may have docked your boat for the winter, but a newly launched program looks to bring visitors back to the river. The Tennessee River Trail highlights quaint towns, historic grounds, and all the Tennessee treasures along the way. The stunning view from the highest point in West Tennessee at Nathan B. Forrest State Park is one of more than 100 sites along the newly opened trail. “This puts everything together in one regional overview, so that you really get a feel for how much there is in this region,” said Bill Kee, executive director of the Benton County-Camden Chamber of Commerce. Benton County is just one of nine located along the trail. The driving trail, which stretches 347 miles, showcases cultural gems from historic battle grounds, to local restaurants and unique museums. “You think about a sleepy, rural place like this, there’s actually quite a bit for visitors to enjoy,” said Kee. And those visitors are bringing the bucks. “For this nine county region, tourism is a little over $171 million industry,” said Kee. “Travelers spend that kind of money in the region and this is just hoping to enhance that even further: It generates tax revenue, it creates jobs, it helps the region economically in so many ways.” And in a tough economy, traveling takes on a whole new meaning. “Tourism has changed a little bit,” said Kee. “It’s not so much theme parks and that sort of thing anymore, as shorter trips and looking at historical places and more rural places – kind of getting away from it all and getting back to nature. And that’s what we’re all about here.” The Tennessee River Trail is self-guided and most of the stops remain open year-round. For complete visitor information on Tennessee, visit http://tntrailsandbyways.com
