Quilt Trail
in Kentucky · centroid 63 mi from Nashville
The Quilt Tour is a self-guided auto tour of the colorful, painted quilt blocks in Stewart County, Tennessee. One of the blocks is featured on the side of the Mission-66 Visitor Center within Fort Donelson NB. Many of the other 90 quilt blocks are found on businesses, churches, and private homes.
It took nearly five years for a few volunteers and history enthusiasts to create and hang these beautiful pieces of art. The quilt trail was inspired by local artist Carolyn Walter Darke, who owned her own archtectural rendering business in Atlanta, and returned to her hometown. She was inspired by her own family's story, which was intertwined in the battle of Fort Donelson.
More research led Darke and fellow art lover Betsy Tumelson to highight how Americans remembered the Civil War, how quilts commemorate the veterans who served, and how art and history unite to tell a story. Quilting is one of the oldest forms of American folk art. In the 19th century, women and young girls knew how to piece quilt blocks.
- States
- Kentucky
- Trail type
- National Battlefield trail
- Centroid nearest city
- Nashville, TN · 63 mi · ~1.8 hr drive
- Centroid coords
- 36.4879°, -87.8400°
About Fort Donelson National Battlefield
This trail is inside Fort Donelson National Battlefield, a national battlefield managed by the U.S. National Park Service. Conditions, road status, trail closures, and reservation requirements are published on the park's NPS page — check it before driving in, especially in winter or during major weather events.
Official NPS trail page: https://www.nps.gov/places/quilt-trail.htm
Park homepage: https://www.nps.gov/fodo/index.htm
Plan your hike
Maps + permits: long-distance trails like this often require permits for through-hiking, backcountry camping, or specific sections (especially in National Parks). Check with the maintaining organisation listed above and the relevant land manager before booking travel.
Water + supplies: water sources vary seasonally on most U.S. trails. Carry a filter and consult current trail-condition reports — through-hiker journals (PCT-L, AT Reddit, etc.) and the maintaining organisation publish regular updates.
When to go: hiking seasons vary widely with elevation, latitude, and snowpack. Through-hikers traditionally start the AT in March-April (Springer northbound) and the PCT in late April (Campo northbound). High-elevation western trails (CDT, JMT, Wonderland) generally aren't passable until July.
If you've hiked Quilt Trail and have current notes (water sources, trail closures, permit changes), tell us at /contact — we update pages as we learn.
Stay nearby
Sources
Trail data on this page is compiled from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), the maintaining organisation's public-facing materials, and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA where excerpts are quoted). Distance, terminus, and descriptive text for nationally-designated trails are hand-curated from federal land-manager websites and trail-association sources. We do not modify the underlying data; this page presents what is already publicly recorded. To suggest corrections, see our methodology page.