trail of tears state park

The park has a lovely visitors center. The rest of the park's charm would be pretty rustic with few amenities and mostly self exploratory. The hiking trails are somewhat primitive with natural aids of rocks and logs for support when necessary. However, beware of your limitations. The terrain is fording steep inclines and deep ravines. The signs may say moderate becasuse of a 2.5 - 3 mile length but it is quite a grunt. The view of the Mississippi river and railroad was quite impressive and the fall foliage beautiful but if you are herding small children or have limitations just say no! The sheperd hill trail is fun but challenging and you will work up a sweat even in crisp temperatures!

The Trail of Tears State park in Cape Girardeau County is a beautiful area. It has primitive campsites and non primitive sights. A playground is located at the non primitive camping area with a large shelter house. This campsight overlooks the Mississippi River which is accessible for just enjoying the river sights or fishing. There is a railroad track that is located between the campsite and the rivers edge, that is used by trains. If you are not a light sleeper, you may enjoy the trains as they travel by. The park has Lake Boutin , which has a beach front with a roped off area for swimming, or fishing is allowed also. If you are a hiker there is a hiking trail, it has some steep hills and offers a good workout. There is a scenic overlook which has a wooden walkway and platform to view the Mississippi River and the beautiful surroundings. The Visitor center has a collection of artifacts and history of how the indians lived and died on the Trail of Tears. You can learn about the snakes that live in the area, Volunteers offer classes on different topics related to the Trail of Tears. It is a beautiful State Park to visit and learn the history of the Indians that gave it is name. There is no cost for entering the park , but there is a camping fee.

Try to visit the little visitors center to get a history of the park/Trail of Tears before you visit the scenic overlook above the Mississippi River. Be sure to check the hours of the visitor center because it is often closed on Tuesdays. Watch the short film in the center. It is a very well done reenactment of what happened when the Cherokee were forced from their homes.Good picnicking, trails to hike, & camping available. There are no services close by the park & it's just a tad tricky to find so be sure to use your GPS.

We've been to several state parks to camps this year and was fairly excited to visit Trail of Tears. We expected to find some information or landmarks from this terrible park of our nations history. There was some info at the visitors center but other than the grossly underwhelming Bushyhead memorial spot, there was nothing! At the overlook, it had a plaque and storyboard pertaining to the accomplishments of Father Marquette. WTH? Anyway, the overlook was nice, lake was nice, basic campsite were very tiny and steeply graded. The electric sites, where we and another couple tented on two sites, were much more level but the electric service was very dated. There is no wifi in the park - nowhere. There is no ice available either. Guy at the visitor center told me their vendor was no longer providing ice because they weren't selling enough. Again WTH? Vault toilet was decent. Bath house was, let's just say adequate. The trains WILL run through the day but it seemed mostly at night and they are very, very close and very, very loud. It's called Trail of Tears state park but the only thing that made us want to cry was the lack of care given to the park and the utter disrespect to the Cherokee nation dead whose story is not told here. Sad and we will not return.

We enjoyed our visit to Trail of Tears State Park this past Monday, but unfortunately the Visitor Center was closed. Check before you go to confirm that it will be open on the day that you want to visit. We were unable to get this information from the website. There are plenty of picnic areas and there is an outdoor toilet facility.

So sorry, but my impression of this park is tainted by the lack of foresight and initiative. In mid- September the staff was approached by a couple journeying the Trail of Tears (covered wagon and team of mules - really!). The reluctant "welcome" was to offer a gravel site by the river which would have been a significantly hard pull for the mules to get back up to the road. During that same weekend there was another event scheduled (triathelon, I think) and all those visitors missed an opportunity to see a "real" covered wagon and meet a couple very knowledgeable about the Trail of Tears. Too bad park bureaucrats are unable to make a decision based on unique opportunities rather than a book of rules.....the real missed opportunity is that one of these people is a famous longrider and has been written up in several national publications. I only have tears for this state park and will never go back.

We stayed in the full service campground. If you want to be on the Mississippi River, this is the place but be ready for the trains to be even closer than the water. We knew this going in, so more amusing than annoying. (Think My Cousin Vinnie with trains and river barges.) Easy set up on flat sites. The bath/shower house is quite a way down the road. Drove it at night. The Visitor Center is very well done. It explains this tragic time in our history well, thoughtfully and respectfully. The ranger there was helpful too. We took the Lake View Trail at the basic camping area. It said it would take over 2 hours. We did it in 1.25 but we were moving along. Challenging but fun! The overlook at the River offers breathtaking views. Not a bike friendly place but very pretty. Off the beaten path: Gas and ice are 5-10 miles away. Plan Ahead!

We expected to make a thorough tour of the Trail of Tears exhibit at the Visitors Center at the park entrance, but the day was so beautiful and as we had brought a picnic, we spent the entire afternoon outside. The picnic possibilities were everywhere for any kind of taste -- wooded, sheltered, open, or by water (river or lake). The scenic overlook of the Mississippi River lived up to its name with great historic information. The park's infrastructure (roads, trails, bridges, picnic tables, Visitors Center) was in terrific shape -- nicely maintained. We walked along the trails and one of us jogged along the well-paved road; plenty of bathrooms available. And it was free!! This was an easy two-hour drive from Paducah (us) and St. Louis (our friends) and we'll definitely rendezvous here again. Maybe next visit it will rain and we'll spend time in the VC museum/T of T exhibit. I got the impression this park is well loved and used for other things like runners' races or triathalons. Anyway, it's well worth getting to know better.

Came here whilst on holidays in the States with my fiancée and her friends. Firstly we loved the drive through the forest going towards the viewpoint. Got to the viewpoint and we had amazing views of the Mississippi River. We then hiked on 1 of the great trails but we then had to turn back due to bad weather!! Really fun morning here though!!

A little group of us reserved a basic tent site for camping so that we could view the meteor showers in the night. I wasn't expecting how very clean the restrooms were and the showers were some of the cleanest I've ever experienced camping. The camp hosts were SO friendly (their dogs were too). Our tent site was spacious enough and included a fire ring, picnic table and covered table. We were allowed to take our lawn chairs down to the lake and lay and watch the meteor showers until 4:00 a.m. with NOBODY to bother us. SUCH a magical night and so clean and just downright beautiful! The next morning we looked around and found some awesome trails (all very well marked) and also found the overlook which was breathtaking (view of the Mississippi). We finished our day at the visitors center and museum... I wish we would have had the time to view the historical movie about the Trail of Tears. The museum is definitely worth the time to visit. I can't wait to bring the family back on a summer day and swim in the lake. The beach was so clean and sandy with marked swimming areas. I hear the fishing is good here too! The drive through the park reminded us all of being in the Smoky Mountains. Definitely one of Missouri's treasures!

Nice quiet place for camping and the public swimming area at the lake is the best beach in the county. The hiking trails are very well used and marked. Fishing in the lake is fine and fishing on the river is enjoyable but I would not eat anything out of the river.

We camped by the lake at two of the basic sites with 3 families. We had happened to book smaller sites, but we made them work. The camp host(ess) was extremely friendly and helpful! The only true downfall of the park was the amount of poison ivy growing EVERYWHERE! Our hike on the Lake Trail was like wading through a sea of poison ivy. We've been to many state parks and have done a lot of hiking, but have never experienced anything like this!

This place is awesome! It has so much to offer. So many hiking trails and so much interesting historical knowledge along the way.

We visited the Trail of Tears Visitor Center with its many displays, and then the entire Park overlooking the Mississippi River, when the Trees had turned beautiful orange and yellow colors. Loved the history.

Park is located on an historic waypoint of the trail of tears. RV campground was small but well appointed and quiet. Trails offer some pretty amazing views of the Mississippi river.