For 100 years, the National Park Service has preserved America’s special places “for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations.” Celebrate its second century with the Find Your Park GeoTour that launched April 2016 and explore these geocaches placed for you by National Park Service Rangers and their partners.
geocaching.com/play/geotours/findyourpark
The Location
Stones River National Battlefield preserves over 600 acres of the historic battlefield and National Cemetery near Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The Battle of Stones River began on the last day of 1862 and was one of the bloodiest conflicts of the Civil War. The battle produced important military and political gains for the Union, and it changed forever the people who lived and fought here. Stones River National Battlefield offers a variety of ways to explore the impact of the Battle of Stones River on soldiers and civilians as well as the opportunity to enjoy the battlefield for its natural beauty. The National Park Service preserves unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of this historic battlefield for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations. There are no fees to enjoy this National treasure and we encourage you to take some time to explore the Center and the grounds.
The Area
Rutherford County was created from parts of Davidson, Sumner, Williamson and Wilson Counties in 1803. The county was named in honor of Revolutionary War General Griffith Rutherford and was once hunting grounds for the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Shawnee nations. The Stones River, a major tributary of the Cumberland River named for explorer Uriah Stone around 1767, provided a transportation route and water source for settlers and power for mills built throughout the county. From 1818 to 1826, our county seat, Murfreesboro, was the capital of Tennessee.
The Jack Trail GeoTour
The Jack Trail GeoTour is a series of geocaches along the backroads and small towns of Middle Tennessee. There is no fixed itinerary, like on a traditional trail, but rather a series of points of interest in a self-guided, goal-oriented plan. We have created a special passport, which you can download here, which lets you track your progress as you hunt specially placed geocaches along the tour. This passport will help you collect “code words” to qualify for special geocoins for completion of the GeoTour.
Placed with special permission and the cooperation of the National Park Service staff at Stones River National Battlefield.