Tennessee Public Lands
4.7% of Tennessee is federal land: 1,269,357 of its 26,727,680 acres (2024 data). The largest federal land manager in Tennessee is the U.S. Forest Service, with 725,299 acres, 2.7% of the state. This guide covers 83 state parks, 9 National Park Service units, 2 national forests, 12 wilderness areas, and 7 national wildlife refuges.
Explore Tennessee public lands by type
- Tennessee state parks 83 parks, 16 with camping, 21 with swimming
- Tennessee national parks 9 National Park Service units, 1 with developed campgrounds
- Tennessee national forests Cherokee National Forest, Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area: free dispersed camping allowed
- Tennessee wilderness areas 12 areas
- Tennessee national wildlife refuges 7 national wildlife refuges
Tennessee public land map
- National forests
- National parks, recreation areas and monuments (NPS)
- National wildlife refuges (FWS)
- State parks
- Wilderness areas (dashed)
Land managed by (switch layers on or off)
Land ownership: USGS PAD-US 4.1, dissolved by manager and simplified (parcels under about 2 square km not shown). Unit boundaries simplified. Not for navigation or legal boundaries.
List of all 113 places on this map
State parks (83)
- Bays Mountain State Natural Area
- Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park
- Big Cypress Tree State Natural Area
- Big Cypress Tree State Park
- Big Hill Pond State Park
- Big Ridge State Park
- Bledsoe Creek State Park
- Bone Cave State Natural Area
- Booker T. Washington State Park (Tennessee)
- Burgess Falls State Natural Area
- Burgess Falls State Park
- Cedars of Lebanon State Park
- Cherokee Trail of Tears State Park
- Chickasaw State Park (Tennessee)
- Cordell Hull Birthplace State Park
- Couchville Cedar Glade State Natural Area
- Cove Lake State Park
- Cumberland Mountain State Park
- Cummins Falls State Park
- David Crockett Birthplace State Park
- David Crockett State Park
- Dry Branch State Natural Area
- Dunbar Cave State Natural Area
- Dunbar Cave State Park
- Edgar Evins State Park
- Fall Creek Falls State Natural Area
- Fall Creek Falls State Park
- Fort Loudoun State Historic Park
- Fort Pillow State Historic Park
- Fort Pillow State Park
- Frozen Head State Natural Area
- Frozen Head State Park
- Harpeth River State Park
- Harrison Bay State Park
- Henry Horton State Park
- Hiwassee Scenic River State Park
- Indian Mountain State Park
- Johnsonville State Historic Park
- Justin P. Wilson Cumberland Trail State Park
- Lamar Alexander Rocky Fork State Park
- Laurel-Snow State Natural Area
- Long Hunter State Park
- Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park
- Meeman-Shelby State Natural Area
- Montgomery Bell State Natural Area
- Montgomery Bell State Park
- Mousetail Landing State Park
- Natchez Trace State Park
- Nathan Bedford Forrest State Park
- Natural Bridge State Natural Area
- Norris Dam State Park
- North Chickamauga Creek Gorge State Park
- Ozone Falls State Natural Area
- Panther Creek State Park
- Paris Landing State Park
- Pickett CCC Memorial State Park
- Pickwick Landing State Park
- Piney Falls State Natural Area
- Poor Valley Creek State Park
- Port Royal State Park
- Radnor Lake State Natural Area
- Radnor Lake State Park & Natural Area
- Red Clay State Historic Park
- Red Clay State Park
- Reelfoot Lake State Natural Area
- Reelfoot Lake State Park
- Roan Mountain State Park
- Rock Island State Park (Tennessee)
- Rocky Fork State Park (Tennessee)
- Savage Gulf State Park
- Sgt. Alvin C. York State Historic Park
- South Cumberland State Park
- Standing Stone State Park
- Stillhouse Hollow Falls State Natural Area
- Stinging Fork Falls State Natural Area
- T. O. Fuller State Park
- Tims Ford State Park
- Vesta Cedar Glade State Natural Area
- Virgin Falls State Natural Area
- Walls of Jericho State Natural Area
- Walterhill Floodplain State Natural Area
- Warriors' Path State Park
- Watauga River Bluffs State Natural Area
National parks, recreation areas and monuments (NPS) (9)
- Andrew Johnson National Historic Site
- Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area
- Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park
- Cumberland Gap National Historical Park
- Fort Donelson National Battlefield
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park
- Natchez Trace Parkway
- Shiloh National Military Park
- Stones River National Battlefield
National forests (2)
Wilderness areas (12)
- Bald River Gorge Wilderness
- Big Frog Wilderness
- Big Laurel Branch Wilderness
- Citico Creek Wilderness
- Cohutta Wilderness
- Gee Creek Wilderness
- Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness
- Little Frog Mountain Wilderness
- Pond Mountain Wilderness
- Sampson Mountain Wilderness
- Unaka Mountain Wilderness
- Upper Bald River Wilderness
Who manages Tennessee's land
| Agency | Acres | Share of Tennessee |
|---|---|---|
| Bureau of Land Management | 0 | 0% |
| U.S. Forest Service | 725,299 | 2.7% |
| U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 54,962 | 0.2% |
| National Park Service | 360,616 | 1.3% |
| Department of Defense | 128,480 | 0.5% |
| All federal land | 1,269,357 | 4.7% |
Source: Congressional Research Service, Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data (R42346), 2024 data, checked 2026-09-30.
Camping on Tennessee public land
Free dispersed camping is also allowed on Cherokee National Forest , Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area .
National Park Service land has its own camping rules, set by each park unit: see Great Smoky Mountains National Park for campgrounds, fees, and backcountry permits.
16 of Tennessee's state parks have developed campgrounds on record; compare them in the Tennessee state parks table.
Common questions
- 4.7% of Tennessee is federal land: 1,269,357 of its 26,727,680 acres (2024 data).
- The largest federal land manager in Tennessee is the U.S. Forest Service, with 725,299 acres, 2.7% of the state.
- This guide lists 83 Tennessee state parks and recreation areas, 16 of them with camping on record.
- congress.gov (accessed 2026-09-30)
The sentences on this page are generated by software from the sourced records above, not written by hand. How this content is made.