The Bear Trace in Tennessee

The Bear Trace in Tennessee is a collection of five outstanding golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus for the Tennessee State Park System. All five courses are set among some of the most beautiful scenery in the American Southeast. They are all tough, but playable. As state park courses go, these five offer an experience above and beyond the norm.

Pros

Cons

From Chickasaw in West Tennessee to Harrison Bay in the east, the five courses in Tennessee’s Bear Trace system, all designed by Jack Nicklaus, offer a unique and exciting experience that’s challenging, spectacular and often heart-stopping.

The Bear Trace at Chickasaw - Henderson, 30 minutes south of Jackson - was recently named “One of the Top Ten You Can Play” by Golf Magazine. Heavily wooded, it’s fraught with traps and hazards that include the cruel and unusual use of its natural marshes and well a creek that meanders into play on seven of the nine finishing holes.

The Bear Trace at Cumberland Mountain, Crossville, is the most popular of the five courses in the Trace. It, too, was named “One of the Top Ten You Can Play” by Golf Magazine in 1999.

The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay, Chattanooga, is my personal favorite. At 7,140 yards, it’s the longest course on the Trace, and maybe the toughest.

The Bear Trace at Tims Ford, Winchester, is part links, part rolling hills and a course where Nicklaus caters to his somewhat morbid love of the bunker.

The Bear Trace at Ross Creek Landing, Clifton, is an alien land of marshes, creeks and river. Jack worked hard here to preserve the natural environment. The result is a new course that looks almost as old as time itself.

But the Bear Trace experience goes far beyond its fairways and greens. Exceptional hospitality, impeccable service, an overall ambiance and a sweet sense of solitude and tranquility that I’ve yet to the match for anywhere else.

Where To Stay

Most of the Bear Trace Golf Courses are in remote locations, which make finding a place to stay close at hand a little difficult. Here are a few suggestions:

The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay

The Bear Trace at Chickasaw