Joe Wheeler State Park is a public recreation area with resort features located on

Wheeler Lake Wheeler Lake is located in the northern part of the state of Alabama in the United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a feder ...

, an impoundment of the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is a long river located in the Southern United States, southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. Flowing through the states of Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, it begins at the confluence of Fren ...

, east of

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

in northwest

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

. The

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "Federated state, state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on accou ...

contains of land in three separate parcels and adjoins

Wheeler Dam Wheeler Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Tennessee River between Lauderdale County and Lawrence County in Alabama. It is one of nine dams on the river owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the mid-1930s ...

History

The park was established when the state purchased land from the

Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolin ...

(TVA) in 1949. Resort features were added during a major upgrade begun in 1973. The park, the lake and dam are named after the

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

general and

U.S. Congressman The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

Joseph Wheeler Joseph "Fighting Joe" Wheeler (September 10, 1836 – January 25, 1906) was a military commander and politician of the Confederate States of America. He was a cavalry general in the Confederate States Army in the 1860s during the American Civil ...

Awards

In September 2020, Joe Wheeler State Park was one of eleven Alabama state parks awarded

Tripadvisor Tripadvisor is an American company that operates online travel agency, travel agencies, comparison shopping websites, and mobile apps with user-generated content. Its namesake brand, Tripadvisor.com, operates in 40 countries and 20 languages, and ...

’s Traveler’s Choice Award, which recognizes businesses and attractions that earn consistently high user reviews.

Activities and amenities

The Rogersville area of the park includes a resort lodge, convention facilities, restaurant, campground, 140-slip marina, 18-hole golf course, and loop trail for hiking and biking. The TVA maintains a dam overlook near the state park's cabin area.

References

External links

Joe Wheeler State Park
Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources * Map Highlighting Park's Boundaries {{authority control State parks of Alabama Huntsville-Decatur, AL Combined Statistical Area Decatur metropolitan area, Alabama Protected areas of Lauderdale County, Alabama Protected areas of Lawrence County, Alabama Protected areas established in 1949 1949 establishments in Alabama