To make a reservation call 800.377.2770.
Metal Ford and Buffalo River
Natchez Trace
“I was roused from this melancholy reverie by the roaring of Buffalo River, which I forded with great difficulty.” Alexander Wilson, 1811
Here travelers on the Natchez Trace crossed the river which was fordable except after heavy rains. The ford takes its name from its stone bottom, which reminded frontier travelers of stone-surfaced or “metaled” roads of the day.
A 5 minute stroll beyond Metal Ford leads you beside the Buffalo River to the McLish stand exhibit and then back to this point by way of the historic mill trace.
Steele's Iron Works - Here about 1820 stood a charcoal burning furnace used to manufacture pig iron. All that remain of this pioneer enterprise are the slag pile and the evidence of a millrace used to bring water from the Buffalo River to operate the furnace's air blasting machinery.
1 Gordon House and Duck River Ferry Site
2 Baker Bluff Overlook
3 Jackson Falls
4 Old Trace Walk
5 Tobacco Farm and Old Trace Drive
6 Sheboss Stand
7 Old Trace
8 Columbia, Tennessee
9 Linden, Tennessee
10 Commodore Hotel & Cafe
11 Avaleen Springs Bed and Breakfast
12 Swan View Overlook
13 Fall Hollow Waterfall
14 Deanna's Cabins
15 Fall Hollow Bed and Breakfast
16 Ridgetop Bed and Breakfast
17 Hohenwald, Tennessee
18 Meriwether Lewis
* Metal Ford and Buffalo River
19 Napier Mine
20 Jacks Branch
21 Old Trace Drive
22 Dogwood Mudhole
23 Glenrock Branch
24 Sweetwater Branch
Color Key:
* Metal Ford and Buffalo River
Bed and Breakfasts located nearby
On Trace Attractions located nearby
Other Attractions located nearby
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