The Trace (Land Between the Lakes)
Woodlands Trace | |
|---|---|
| The Trace FD-100 | |
| Route information | |
| Length | 43.1 mi[1] (69.4 km) |
| Major junctions | |
| South end |  SR 461 at the south entrance northwest of Dover, TN |
  US 68 / KY 80 near the Golden Pond Visitor Center | |
| North end |  KY 453 at the north entrance near Grand Rivers, KY |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| States | Tennessee, Kentucky |
| Counties | TN: Stewart KY: Lyon, Trigg |
| Highway system | |
The Woodlands Trace National Scenic Byway, also known as "The Trace," is the major north–south roadway that traverses the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area in two counties in western Kentucky and northwestern Stewart County in northwest Middle Tennessee.[2] It is estimated to be 43.1 miles (69.4 km) in length. The road is part of the National Scenic Byway system.[3][4] Although it is not signed, it is listed on LBL's road logs as FD-100.[5]
Description
The road is called "The Trace", which is what many roads and paths were called in pioneer times. "Trace" is short for "Buffalo Trace" that many winding roads have been called since they seem to follow the winding path of buffalo or bison.
Stewart County, Tennessee
The Trace begins as Tennessee State Route 461 (SR 461, locally known as The Trave Road) at the intersection with US 79 (running concurrently with a hidden designation of SR 76) on the western outskirts of Dover in Stewart County, Tennessee. SR 461 ends at the southern boundary of the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, but continues solely as the Trace. The recreation area is situated on an inland peninsula between Kentucky Lake (the Tennessee River) and Lake Barkley (the Cumberland River).[6] It passes the remains of an old furnace as well as the 1850s Homeplace living history farm before the road makes its entry into Kentucky at the state line.
Between the state line and U.S. 68
It enters Trigg County shortly after passing the Homeplace. It passes through more wooded areas and has two intersections with back-country roads, including one of which will lead to the Wrangler's Campground, the premier destination for horseback riding and camping within the recreation area. After passing the Golden Pond Visitor's Center, the Trace has a freeway-style diamond interchange junction with the co-signed four-lane U.S. Route 68 and Kentucky Route 80. US 68/KY 80 was formerly accessed from The Trace via an access road near the visitor's center and planetarium. The diamond interchange was built when US 68/KY 80 was widened within LBL in the early 2010s as part of the widening project of the route in Trigg County.[7]
North of U.S. 68
The Trace goes further north and passes the Elk and Bison Prairie, and other roads that link the Trace to more recreational areas, campgrounds, and one that leads to the Woodlands Nature Station after crossing into the Lyon County section of the recreation area.[8] The Trace reaches its northern end at the Between the Rivers Memorial Bridge on the LBL's northern boundary just short of the Lyon-Livingston County line.
The rest of the road beyond the bridge is signed as Kentucky Route 453 (KY 453) from the northern end of the bridge, through Grand Rivers, all the way to Smithland, Kentucky. Access to US 62/641 and Interstate 24 (I-24) at Exit 31 is available just north of Grand Rivers well into Livingston County.
History
Before the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area (LBL) was established, the Kentucky segment of the Trace was originally designated as Kentucky Route 453 (KY 453), and the Tennessee segment was Tennessee State Route 49 (SR 49).[9][10] The complete roadway from US 79 in the south to the bridge near Grand Rivers in the north was completed at some time between 1957 and 1961.[11] Both KY 453 and SR 49 were decommissioned from the Trace after the LBL was acquired by the USDA's Forest Service from the Tennessee Valley Authority, the previous owner of the recreation area. However, some road maps published after the 2000s still identify The Trace as KY 453 and SR 49.[12][13]
The recreation area itself, however, was established in 1963 after the TVA built the Kentucky Dam and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers impounded the Cumberland River to build the other dam that created Lake Barkley. The state road designations remained until the forest service's acquisition of the recreation area.[14] [15]
Major intersections
| State | County | Location | mi[16] | km | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tennessee | Stewart | Dover | 0.0 | 0.0 |  US 79 – Paris, Dover, Clarksville, Fort Donelson National Battlefield | Southern terminus of The Trace Road and SR 461; southern end of the SR 461 overlap |
| Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area | 3.0 | 4.8 | Southern entrance of Land Between The Lakes SR 461 southThe Trace | Southern terminus; northern end of SR 461 overlap | ||
| FD-300 | Accesses Piney Campground | |||||
| The Homeplace | ||||||
0.000 | 0.000 | Tennessee–Kentucky state line | ||||
| Kentucky | Trigg | Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area | FD-172 west / FD-165 north (Laura Furnace Road) | FD-165 accesses the Wranglers Campground | ||
| Golden Pond | FD-165 south (Laura Furnace Road) | Access Wranglers Campground | ||||
| Golden Pond Visitors Center Golden Pond Observatory and Planetarium | ||||||
| Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area | US 68 / KY 80 – Aurora, Murray, Cadiz, Hopkinsville | Interchange-style junction | ||||
| Elk and Bison Prairie Road | ||||||
| Lyon | FD-135 east | Accesses Woodlands Nature Station and Nature Watch Area | ||||
| FD-133 east (Silver Trail Road) | Accesses Woodlands Nature Station and Nature Watch Area | |||||
| FD-114 west / FD-117 east (Old Ferry Road) | Accesses Birmingham Ferry Recreation Area and Campground and the Eddyville Ferry Landing; formerly KY 58. | |||||
| FD-110 west (Hillman Ferry Road) | Accesses Hillman Ferry Campground | |||||
| Grand Rivers | 43.1 | 69.4 |    KY 453 north to I-24 – Grand Rivers, Smithland | End of the Trace; continues as KY-453. Between the Rivers Bridge just short of the Livingston County line. | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
| ||||||
References
- ^ Federal Highway Administration (n.d.). "Woodlands Trace". America's Byways. Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
- ^ Tennessee Department of Transportation (n.d.). Woodlands Trace National Scenic Byway (Map). Scale not given. Nashville: Tennessee Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014.
- ^ "Woodlands Trace". America's Byways. Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
- ^ Beisel, Brian (n.d.). "Woodlands Trace National Scenic Byway". Tennessee Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014.
- ^ Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area (n.d.). Land Between The Lakes General Map (PDF) (Map). c. 1:380,160. Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 2, 2014.
- ^ Federal Highway Administration (n.d.). "Woodlands Trace: Directions". America's Byways. Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
- ^ Federal Highway Administration (n.d.). "Woodlands Trace: Maps". America's Byways. Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
- ^ Federal Highway Administration (n.d.). "Woodlands Trace: All Photos". America's Byways. Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
- ^ Tennessee Department of Highways and Public Works (1940). Tennessee Highways (Map). Nashville: Tennessee Department of Highways and Public Works – via Tennessee Virtual Archive.
- ^ Kentucky Department of Highways (1957). Kentucky Official Highway Map (PDF) (Map). c. 1:760,320. Frankfort: Kentucky Department of Highways.
- ^ Kentucky Department of Highways (1962). Kentucky Official Highway Map (PDF) (Map). c. 1:760,320. Frankfort: Kentucky Department of Highways. §§ C5-C6.
- ^ AAA (2021). "Kentucky" (Map). AAA Deluxe Road Atlas (2021 ed.). 1 in=20 mi. Kappa Map Group. p. 47. Kentucky Lakes Region inset. §§ R9-R11. ISBN 9781946494412.
- ^ G.M. Johnson & Associates, Ltd. (2012). "Western Kentucky" (Map). Western Kentucky. Burnaby, British Columbia: G.M. Johnson & Associates, Ltd. rear inset. ISBN 9781770680982.
- ^ Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (1999). Trigg County Highway Map (Map). Frankfort: Kentucky Transportation Cabinet – via University of Kentucky Map Archive.
- ^ Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (1999). Lyon County Highway Map (Map). Frankfort: Kentucky Transportation Cabinet – via University of Kentucky Map Archive.
- ^ District 1 (n.d.). "Official DMI Route Log: District 1". Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Retrieved July 7, 2016.
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