West Kentucky Everglades
Reelfoot Lake harbors a raft of unspoiled nature

Along Highway 94 west of Hickman, the May rain had fallen so hard that fish leaped in the ditches and sloughs leading to Reelfoot Lake. Standing atop a levee, I gazed across the Purchase District’s fertile Mississippi River bottom, lush with cottonwoods and pecan trees, fields of soybeans, corn, milo and rice, and acres of spring-blooming yellowtop.

Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie once spent time here. Irvin S. Cobb referred to it as “the eighth wonder of the world.” My dad used to call it “God’s country.” Thousands of wildlife watchers, hunters, fishermen and nature worshippers would agree.

One of 38 Wildlife Management Areas in Western Kentucky, Reelfoot National Wildlife Refuge (RNWM) was established in 1941 and now spreads across 25,000 acres in the southwest corner of Kentucky and northwest Tennessee, 15,000 of which is water and wetlands. A place of haunting beauty with extensive bottomland forests, bald cypress swamps and marshes, the lake is a shallow basin formed by the violent New Madrid earthquakes during the winter of 1811-1812.

Perhaps the most severe earthquake ever to hit the continental U.S., this series of tremors (totaling 1,874) caused the Mississippi to flow south to north for three days; destroyed the town of New Madrid, Missouri; carved out the New Madrid Bend, a peninsula 40 miles around that’s separated from the rest of Kentucky by a chunk of Missouri; and created Reelfoot Lake.

The 40-mile-long body of water harbors a raft of unspoiled nature. An old forest still lies just beneath its surface, making it one of the world’s greatest fish hatcheries, where more than 56 species of fish lure commercial and sport fishermen by the droves all year long.

“You won’t ever see a sailboat or a houseboat on Reelfoot,” says avid outdoorsman Greg Grissom, president and general manager of Hickman-Fulton Counties RECC. “Just fishing boats. There’re little boat trails that wind through cypress knees and trees and old logs. It looks like Lake Okeechobee or the Everglades.”

In addition, the region is home to more than 240 avian species that include the Southeast’s largest wintering population of American Bald Eagles. Normally 100 to 200 are lured each year by the ice-free waters and plentiful fish.

“This is a stopover for ducks and geese migrating on the Mississippi Flyway,” Grissom continues. “The eagles start showing up in late winter when the ducks come because that’s one of their food sources. I’ve been duck hunting down here and seen 15 to 16 eagles in one day.”

At Reelfoot’s 2,500-acre Long Point Unit in Kentucky, the duck population – primarily mallards, gadwall, American widgeons and pintails – can peak at 450,000 to 500,000, with Canada geese adding another 150,000. Peak viewing is from mid-January through mid-March. The reputed “Turtle Capital of the World,” the reserve also claims a slew of other critters, including osprey, herons, white-tailed deer, river otters, wild turkeys, mink, beaver, bats, lizards, toads, frogs and 26 species of snakes, cottonmouth and copperhead among them.

When you visit, stop first at the Reelfoot Visitor Center, which is open all year and is a treasure trove of history and wildlife displays. Here, rangers can answer hunting and fishing questions and explain the annual events.

Be sure to mark your calendar for nesting osprey in March, spring wildflowers in April, bluegill fishing and bird watching in May, kids’ fishing rodeo in June, fireworks on the Fourth of July, a duck- and goose-calling contest in August, the Reelfoot Lake Arts & Crafts Festival in October, the return of the bald eagles around Thanksgiving and the Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count in December.

Though RNWR has no overnight facilities or camping, says manager Clark Dirks, “we allow the public to use it to the extent that it doesn’t detract from our primary purpose, which is to provide a winter habitat for ducks, geese and eagles. The south end of the lake has numerous private resorts and nice camping facilities.”

Wherever you stay, be sure to hit the Lakeview Dining Room, situated right on the shores of Reelfoot, for scrumptious fried catfish, or for huge outdoor appetites, the all-you-can-eat dinner of catfish and country ham.

While you’re in the neighborhood, head a few miles over to Hickman on the Great River Road and splurge eight dollars on a spin on the Hickman (Kentucky) – Dorena (Missouri) Ferry, the last remaining traffic-toter on the Mississippi and one of the last in the country. The return’s only half price. Closed for eight years in 1991, the eight-car ferry previously had been in continuous operation since 1840, and now runs daily except on Christmas, or in high winds, fog or ice.

Find out more about eagle tours, pontoon boat tours, hunting and fishing guides, lodging and the fascinating history of this earthquake lake at www.reelfootlaketourism.com or (888) 313-8366.

Katherine Tandy Brown is a staff writer for The Lane Report.
editorial@lanereport.com

Back to Tourism Index

Back to February Issue

Copyright 1996-2004, by Kentucky Business Online.  All rights reserved.

Editorial content is copyright 2004, Lane Communications Group
All editorial material is fully protected and must not be reproduced in any manner without prior permission.

The Lane Report is a trademark of Lane Communications Group.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.