30-07-2025
Parks are economic drivers, especially in rural Tennessee
Welcome to Day 3 of Tennessee Trailheads: This week, each edition of Axios Nashville will explore a different aspect of the parks where we picnic and play.
Subscribe to Axios Nashville here for the next installment.
The Hiwassee River, which swerves through the forests of southeast Tennessee, is one of the state's natural wonders.
For the people who live around the river in Polk County, it's also a surging current of cash.
Why it matters: The river that forms the spine of a Tennessee state park is emblematic of the economic power parks have in Tennessee. It is one of the top draws for local tax revenue driven from the state park system.
By the numbers: Tennessee state parks have an economic impact of $1.9 billion, according to a recent analysis of spending trends during fiscal year 2024.
Visitor spending generated $111.8 million in state taxes and $22.1 million in local tax revenue in that time frame.
The intrigue: Rural communities tend to out-punch their weight.
Zoom in: Polk County, home to the Hiwassee/Ocoee Scenic River State Park, has a population of 18,338. But it was the third-highest winner based on local tax revenue from parks, one measure of the broader financial impact.
That county pulled in more than $1.5 million in local sales tax revenue.
The other side: That's almost even with Davidson County's haul, drawn from spending tied to Bicentennial Mall, Radnor Lake and Long Hunter state parks.
Between the lines: Parks play an outsized role in lush rural areas that are home to coursing waterfalls, sprawling campgrounds and rugged trails.
Zoom out: Tennessee has worked for years to leverage parks for the benefit of struggling rural counties.
Flashback: When the new Fall Creek Falls lodge opened in 2022, Pikeville Mayor Phil Cagle told reporters it would be a boon for his East Tennessee neighbors. The previous park inn had closed years earlier.
"We've missed having this there, and the people coming and staying at the park and coming down here and spending money and coming to the local grocery stores," Cagle said at the time, per a news report.
The big picture: The state's goal is building a portfolio of parks that celebrate different interests and settings, says Greer Tidwell, who oversees the park system as the deputy commissioner for TDEC's Bureau of Conservation.
"Each one of our parks special and brings a special draw," he tells Axios.
"It's not like a hamburger chain. They're not all competing with each other for generating the most revenue."
The bottom line: The financial impact of parks comes hand-in-hand with an emotional power.
Tidwell spoke to Axios from Cumberland Mountain State Park on the plateau. He says his mother first came there during a high school field trip in 1958, and it has become a favorite vacation spot his family.
Those personal stories are some of the state's best marketing tools. And they highlight a different kind of impact.
"We run these operations in a business-like approach, we want repeat customers," Tidwell says.
