2 sites ¡ Tents19 acres ¡ Chattanooga, TNYOU MUST PROVIDE WATERCRAFT OF SOME KIND TO GET TO MACLELLAN ISLAND!
Maclellan Island is a unique 18.8-acre wildlife sanctuary situated in the middle of the Tennessee River, in the heart of downtown Chattanooga. It is accessible by water only. The island is home to a great diversity of plants, animals, and birds.
Campers can enjoy easy wildlife viewing in a true urban wilderness setting. Muskrats, geese, and kingfishers can be seen feeding at the waterâs edge, while the forest is home to songbirds, turkeys, raccoons, owls, possums, foxes, and woodpeckers. It's a great place to quietly watch nesting osprey and great-blue heron as well as an important feeding area for migrating warblers.
IMPORTANT: Maclellan Island is accessible by boat ONLY. You will need to provide your own transportation to and from the island, either using your own boat or by renting a kayak/SUP from a local outfitter. We recommend renting kayaks from L2 Outdoors who launches from Coolidge Park.
Maclellan Islandâs earliest inhabitants were Indigenous People whose island community was likely an extension or suburb of Citico, a nearby village. Farmed in the 1800âs and early 1900âs, the island was plowed for many years and largely free of the trees which shade it today. Floods have covered the island from time to time and drove away numerous early settlers including one early farmer, Abel Kesterson, who survived rising waters in 1867 only by holding onto the horns of his cow as they swam to safety. The island eventually passed through the hands of several prominent companies as well as a number of more rambunctious inhabitants. Finally in 1954 Maclellan Island was donated to the Chattanooga Audubon Society by Robert J. Maclellan for preservation as a wildlife refuge.
If you'll be arriving by a motorized boat, you will need to use a public boat ramp. The closest one is at the Tennessee River Park. Coolidge Park has a kayak/canoe/SUP launch and you can park cars in their parking lot overnight for a fee.
