A new state park in Warren County faces several years of work before it officially opens the public.
Tennessee State Parks Director Chris Padgett said the 530-acres for Cardwell Mountain State Archaeological Park was purchased back in 2020. While plans to open the park are moving forward, Padgett said there is still significant work to be done.
“We’ve got to have our staff in place, we need to have our infrastructure in place, like I said, we’ve got some appropriated dollars, about $22 million to build a new visitors center, maintenance facility, trails, park amenities, we want to have all of those in place before we officially open it up fully to the public,” Padgett said.
Padgett said the park will be just the third archaeological state park in Tennessee. Padgett said the park will bring educational and tourism opportunities to Warren County. He also said the state park system is looking forward to eventually opening the park.
“It is one of the most exciting times ever in Tennessee State Parks history,” Padgett said. “Anytime we’re able to add a new state park, it’s a benefit and a value to the local community, to the state as a whole, and just to people that like to come and visit our parks. This is an unprecedented time in the amount of growth that we’ve had. Super excited about Cardwell Mountain State Archaeological Park coming online and really looking forward to the value and benefit that it will bring to the people of Warren County and beyond.”
Padgett said he hopes to have some park preview days between now and when the park officially opens. Despite an official opening being years away, Padgett said they are making progress.
“We’ve got the visitor center designed, we’ve got the maintenance facility designed, so we are in the process of the capital project completion,” Padgett said. “We are still a couple of years out at least before that happens. So fully opened is still to be determined, but there will be opportunities for people to experience the site.”
Padgett said state parks are usually open to the public before they officially open. However, Padgett said Cardwell Mountain is closed off for now to preserve some of the cultural resources that the park will offer.
“It preserves and protects archaeological sites, you know, reflecting more than 5,000 years of Native American history, and then you have also got 150 years of the Cardwell family,” Padgett said. “They were a prominent local family. Really important in the growth of the nursery industry, there in Warren County. It has significant sites upon it.”