Tennessee's newest state park has a name, a dedication date, and a backstory rooted in a land fight that nearly turned a historic Hamilton County farm into an industrial park instead. Gov. Bill Lee and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation announced Tuesday that the state's 70th state park will be called Angel's Hollow State Park, with an official dedication set for November 6.
According to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Lee and First Lady Maria Lee personally selected the name to reflect what officials describe as the area's peaceful landscape. The park spans 2,500 total acres across Hamilton and Rhea counties, built by combining 1,305 acres transferred from the historic McDonald Farm with additional state-owned land, per Wisevoter. State Affairs Pro, which first covered the announcement, reported that Lee dubbed the park Angel's Hollow as his administration's final addition to the state parks system, as noted by State Affairs Pro.
The project carries a hefty price tag. The Tennessee General Assembly approved $45.3 million in funding for Fiscal Year 2027 to support the park's establishment, Wisevoter reports. Once operational, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation projects Angel's Hollow will generate roughly $11 million in annual economic output, support 77 regional jobs, and draw $1 million in annual state operating funds, according to WBIR.
From Factory Dream to Farmland Fight
The land's path to becoming a park was anything but straightforward. Hamilton County originally purchased the 2,100-acre McDonald Farm in Sale Creek for $16 million in late 2021 under then-County Mayor Jim Coppinger, with initial plans for industrial development, according to Food as a Verb. County leaders at the time were hoping to land a major manufacturing tenant similar to Chattanooga's Enterprise South facility, the outlet notes.
Those industrial ambitions collided with public pushback earlier this year. Plans for a state park gained momentum in early 2026 after Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp dropped a controversial proposal to swap land-use restrictions between Enterprise South Nature Park and McDonald Farm, the station's report states, after public records showed 99% public opposition to the swap. The scrapped deal would have opened 500 acres of Enterprise South to industrial development.
A Split Between County Fairgrounds and State Trails
Not all of McDonald Farm is becoming state-managed wilderness. Hamilton County will retain management of roughly 300 acres of the property, including the historic homestead and the fairgrounds where the annual Hamilton County Fair takes place, per Wisevoter. The November 6 dedication was intentionally scheduled to coincide with the fair's opening day.
The park's main visitor center will sit along Coulterville Road in Sale Creek, an unincorporated community in northern Hamilton County along U.S. Route 27 between Chattanooga and Dayton, Wisevoter reports. Trail planners designed the park's infrastructure to connect McDonald Farm directly to the Cumberland Trail network, a long-distance footpath across the Cumberland Plateau, extending multi-county hiking access through Hamilton and Rhea counties, per the same WBIR account.
Fourteenth New Park Under Lee
Angel's Hollow marks the 14th new state park established during Lee's administration, bringing Tennessee's total to 70, according to Wisevoter. The milestone fits a broader pattern of the governor's administration prioritizing rural outdoor recreation and tourism infrastructure across the state. For Sale Creek and northern Hamilton County, it also closes the book on a years-long debate over whether the McDonald Farm property would serve industry or outdoor recreation.
