2 hr 45 min
By car from the Public Square, 159 mi
Field Guide 04 · Tennessee State Parks
Red Clay State Historic Park
The last seat of the Cherokee Nation's government in the East, from 1832 to 1838, south of Cleveland. The Council Spring, an eternal flame memorial, a museum and replica Cherokee farm buildings, with four short trails.
Bradley CountyClevelandOpenChecked October 20, 2026
263
Acres
22,232
Visitors in fiscal 2022*
4
Trails listed, 2.6 miles
Day
Day use only
1
Activities the state lists
* Visitors: Not counting the park's large events, whose crowds do not pass the gate counter, the plan says.
What's there
Things to do
- Hiking
On site
- Adult-Sized Changing Table
- All-Terrain Wheelchair
- Gift Shop
- Museum
- Trails
- Visitor Center
- Wheelchair-Friendly Paved Trails
The trails
| Trail | Miles | Difficulty | Surface | Now |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Hole Trail | 0.1 | Easy | Natural | Open |
| Connector Trail | 0.15 | Easy | Natural | Open |
| Council of Trees Trail | 1.7 | Easy | Natural | Open |
| Interpretive Trail | 0.6 | Easy | Paved | Open |
As the park's hiking page lists them on October 20, 2026. Lengths are one way unless the trail is a loop, and some trails share ground, so the total is the sum of the list, not the miles on the ground.
Getting there
1140 Red Clay Park Road SW, Cleveland, TN 37311
Park office: 1-423-478-0339
The park's page at Tennessee State Parks
Campsites, cabins and lodge rooms are booked online through the park's page or by phone at 1-888-867-2757, the state's reservation line.
Nearby
- Booker T. Washington State Park16 miles away as the crow flies · 2 hr 30 min from Franklin
- Harrison Bay State Park16 miles away as the crow flies · 2 hr 35 min from Franklin
- North Chickamauga Creek Gorge State Park23 miles away as the crow flies · 2 hr 25 min from Franklin
- Ocoee River State Park24 miles away as the crow flies · 3 hr from Franklin
How we know
Every fact on this page but the summary at the top is the state's, read on the date above, except the drive: that is Valhalla's route on OpenStreetMap's roads from Franklin's Public Square to the park office, with no traffic, rounded to five minutes. Visits are the park plan's count for the year named, mostly from traffic counters. How the guide was made.
- The park. Tennessee State Parks: the Find a Park list, the park's own page, its hiking page, read October 20, 2026.
- Acres. The park's strategic management plan.
- Visitors. The park's strategic management plan, its site fact sheet for fiscal 2022 (July 2021 to June 2022). Not counting the park's large events, whose crowds do not pass the gate counter, the plan says.