Why this park
Montgomery Bell State Park lies in the wooded hills of Dickson County, about 30 miles west of Nashville, on the Western Highland Rim. Two tracts of its oak-hickory forest, about 1,086 acres in all, form a state natural area. TDEC says that ecologists doing National Natural Landmark surveys in the early 1970s rated these stands the finest example of that forest known on the Rim.
The shirt draws the park's water: a stepped spillway below a forest lake at golden hour, with autumn woods on both banks. The park has three lakes, Acorn, Woodhaven and Creech Hollow. The Civilian Conservation Corps built the first two, and a historical marker on the CCC's work here credits one of its companies with the spillway at Lake Woodhaven.
The story
Montgomery Bell was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, in 1769. In 1802 he came to Middle Tennessee and bought out James Robertson's share of the Cumberland Iron Works. For more than four decades he ran furnaces and forges from Montgomery County to the Narrows of the Harpeth. At one time, the Tennessee Encyclopedia says, he held more than 300 people in slavery. Before the Civil War, most of the workers at Middle Tennessee's furnaces and forges were Black, and most of them were enslaved. At the Narrows, now in Harpeth River State Park, water still runs through the 290-foot tunnel his enslaved workers cut through a ridge about 1818 to power his ironworks.
The park carries his name, but its furnace began as another man's. The Tennessee Encyclopedia says Laurel Furnace and its ore pits first belonged to Colonel Richard Napier, who held the land under a Revolutionary War grant. What's left of the furnace is an archaeological site, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The revival preacher Samuel McAdow lived on this land in a log dogtrot house. There, on February 4, 1810, he, Finis Ewing and Samuel King formed an independent Cumberland Presbytery, and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church dates its founding to that day. The church still owns the spot, with a reproduction of the cabin built in 1956 and a chapel finished in 1960.
Decades of farming, timber cutting and ore digging had left the land badly worn, the CCC marker says. In 1935 the Resettlement Administration bought about 3,821 acres, farms among them, and moved the families out. Work began that year on a National Park Service recreational demonstration area. Three New Deal agencies built it: the PWA, the WPA and the CCC. An African American CCC company arrived in December 1935, and Lakes Acorn and Woodhaven are its work. The camp where the Black corpsmen lived, used until 1942, is on the National Register too. In 1943 the Park Service deeded the land to the state, and it became Montgomery Bell State Park. A third lake, Creech Hollow, followed in 1973.
When to go, and what to wear
Fall is the season on the shirt. Tennessee State Parks has named Montgomery Bell among Middle Tennessee's parks for fall color; check the park system's yearly fall outlook for when the color peaks. Nearby, at Dickson, October averages a high near 71°F and a low near 47°F, and August and September are the driest months. Bring a sweatshirt for cool mornings.
Spring is mild. April averages a high near 71°F and a low near 46°F, and May is the wettest month, so pack a rain shell. The Old-Growth Forest Network notes Virginia bluebells among the spring wildflowers near the Montgomery Bell Trail's trailhead.
Summer is warm. July averages a high near 87°F and a low near 67°F. For the heat, the state health department advises light, loose-fitting clothing and plenty of water. For ticks, it advises long sleeves and long pants, and once you're back inside, a look over your clothes and skin, scalp and hair too.
Winter nights are cold. January averages a high near 48°F and a low near 28°F, so dress in layers: a long-sleeve tee, a sweatshirt, a windproof jacket and a hat.
The Montgomery Bell Trail climbs over wooded ridges and down into creek hollows on uneven ground, and some of its stream crossings have no bridge, so wear shoes that grip and can get wet.
Know before you go
- Lake Acorn, beside the lodge, has a swim beach, and gasoline motors are not allowed on it. People fish all three lakes, but Lake Woodhaven was drained in August 2026 for repairs, though access to it stays open. Check the park's page for boating rules.
- The Montgomery Bell Trail loops some 10 to 12 miles around the park, with three shelters for overnight hikers. Check the park's page for how to book one.
- The Birthplace Shrine of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, with its cabin and chapel, stands on about five and a half acres the church owns inside the park.
- Laurel Furnace and the old CCC camp are archaeological sites, and state park rules forbid disturbing any relic, artifact or ruin. Leave what you find.
- The park also has a lodge, cabins and an 18-hole golf course. Its campground is closed for renovation, and construction has closed the ballfield, its road, parking and restrooms. Hours, fees and conditions, lake levels included, change, so check Montgomery Bell State Park's page before you go.
Sources: Tennessee Encyclopedia, "Montgomery Bell State Park" (Ruth D. Nichols), "Montgomery Bell" (Robert E. Corlew), "Iron Industry" (Michael Gavin), "Samuel McAdow" (Tara Mitchell Mielnik), "Cumberland Presbyterian Church" (L. Thomas Smith Jr.) and "Harpeth Scenic River and Narrows State Historic Area" (Carroll Van West); National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, Laurel Furnace (40DS4), and weekly list of July 22, 2022; National Park Service, A Study of the Park and Recreation Problem of the United States; Tennessee Historical Commission, recent National Register listings, Montgomery Bell CCC Camp SP-5/NP-15; Daniel Brock, Tennessee Division of Archaeology, "Archaeological Testing at the Montgomery Bell CCC Camp," Tennessee Council for Professional Archaeology (2020); "The CCC at Montgomery Bell," historical marker, via the Historical Marker Database; Historical Foundation of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, "Birthplace Shrine of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church"; Cumberland Presbyterian Church, "About Us"; Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Montgomery Bell State Natural Area; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, National Inventory of Dams, Creech Hollow Dam; American Society of Civil Engineers, "Montgomery Bell's Tunnel"; Julia Ritchey, "Weekend Adventure: Heartbreak and trash hunks along the Harpeth River," WPLN (2022); Old-Growth Forest Network, "Montgomery Bell State Park"; Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, on the lodge and Lake Acorn; WSMV (2025) on Tennessee State Parks' fall color outlook; WVLT (2026) on tick season; Tennessee Department of Health (2025, 2026); Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0400-02-02-.18; NOAA, U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020, Dickson station; Wikipedia; Montgomery Bell State Park, tnstateparks.com, including its guided-hike listing for the Montgomery Bell Trail.
