Why this park
At Limestone, in Greene County, David Crockett Birthplace State Park covers 105 acres where Limestone Creek flows into the Nolichucky River. In his 1834 autobiography, Crockett wrote that when he was born his father was living "at the mouth of Lime Stone, on the Nola-chucky river."
What makes the place worth drawing is the river. Just below the creek's mouth the Nolichucky bends over the rocks of Crockett Shoals, and a short trail climbs to bluffs more than 100 feet above the bend. On the grounds stands an old stone chimney that came through the 2024 flood unharmed when nearly every building around it was destroyed.
The story
Crockett gave his birth date as August 17, 1786, though he admitted he had it secondhand. His earliest memory, he wrote, was of his older brothers being swept in their father's canoe toward a fall in the river, until a man working in a field swam out and saved them.
As a militia scout in the Creek War, he took part in the 1813 massacre at the Creek town of Tallushatchee, the Handbook of Texas says. Elected to Congress in 1827, he broke with Andrew Jackson and was the only member of Tennessee's delegation to oppose the Indian Removal Act, Tennessee's State Library and Archives says. After losing his seat in 1835 he left for Texas, and on March 6, 1836, he was killed at the Alamo. Just how he died is still argued over.
The legend grew beside the man. Comic almanacs sold under his name between 1835 and 1856 told tall tales of a "Davy" who was not the historical David, the Handbook says; his own book calls him David. In the 1950s Walt Disney's television series, with Fess Parker in a coonskin cap, made Davy a national craze. The State Library says that Davy only loosely reflects the real man. By 2018 the park had dropped "Davy" from its name.
Visitors were coming here by the mid-1800s, TDEC says. Samuel Stonecypher bought the land in 1824, and family tradition says he took down the Crockett cabin to reuse its logs. A Davy Crockett Birthplace Association bought the land in the 1950s, and in 1973 it became a state park. Exactly where the cabin stood is unknown, and the one visitors saw was a replica.
On September 27, 2024, the remnants of Hurricane Helene sent the Nolichucky through the park. The state's master plan says the river rose 30 feet in places, about eight feet above any recorded level, and puts the odds of such a flood in any year at one in 5,000. Staff got everyone out, and no one was hurt. The water destroyed nearly every building, the visitor center and the replica cabin among them, and buried the grounds in silt. The Stonecypher family's chimney, which the plan dates to 1824, came through.
In 2026 the General Assembly approved $61.75 million for the first phase of rebuilding: a visitor center, campground, bathhouse and roads. TDEC's plan sets a new replica cabin and homestead above the 2024 flood line, with a teaching pavilion around the old chimney. TDEC has given no reopening date.
When to go, and what to wear
For now there is no everyday visiting. The park's page says the whole park, from the Limestone Creek Trailhead lot to the Overlook Trailhead lot, is closed to all visitors, and only its scheduled events are open to the public. A June 2026 TDEC release named the Crockett Shoals Trailhead, with its half-mile loop up to the bluffs, as open; the park's page no longer does.
By NOAA's 1991–2020 normals for Greeneville, about 13 miles southwest, October is the driest month and the easiest, with highs near 72°F and lows near 44°F. April brings highs near 70°F and lows near 42°F, and every month from March through August averages about 4 inches of rain or more, so pack a rain shell. July, the warmest and wettest month, averages highs near 87°F and lows near 65°F, so carry water. January averages highs near 48°F and lows near 26°F: wear layers, a hat and gloves.
Bring binoculars: the park counts more than 90 kinds of birds, bald eagles, ospreys and belted kingfishers among them. At the river, wear shoes you can get wet. The park manager calls the Nolichucky a wild river whose current and level change, and the park advises a Coast Guard-approved life jacket and a check of the river level first.
Know before you go
- The park has been closed since the September 2024 flood, and its page calls the grounds a hard-hat construction and demolition site. Call before you drive out.
- This is not David Crockett State Park, at Lawrenceburg. Even while closed, this park holds events such as races and volunteer days; its page lists them.
- Hours, fees and closures change, so check David Crockett Birthplace State Park's page before you go.
Sources: Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, David Crockett Birthplace State Park "Rebirth" Master Plan (Kimley-Horn, released January 2026) and news releases of January 6 and June 23, 2026; David Crockett, A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett of the State of Tennessee (1834), via Project Gutenberg; Texas State Historical Association, Handbook of Texas, "Crockett, David" (Michael A. Lofaro, revised by William C. Davis); Tennessee State Library and Archives, "Second Only to Elvis: David Crockett of Tennessee" (2015); Spencer Morrell, The Greeneville Sun, "Flood Damage at David Crockett Birthplace State Park Is 'Extensive'" (October 2, 2024) and "New Trail Creates Public River Access at David Crockett Birthplace State Park" (August 29, 2025); Joe Tennis, "Re-creating the 18th Century: Crockett Rises," Blue Ridge Country (2018); Beth Kinnane, Knox TN Today, "Davy Crockett's Birthplace Destroyed by Helene" (October 15, 2024); NOAA, U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020, Greeneville Experiment Station; Wikipedia; David Crockett Birthplace State Park, tnstateparks.com.
