Visitor directory
Polk County directory
Benton, Copperhill and Ducktown: the Olympic whitewater of the Ocoee, the Hiwassee Scenic River and its loop train out of Delano, the copper-mining history of the Copper Basin, and the Cherokee National Forest in Tennessee’s southeastern corner.
Cities: Benton (county seat) · Copperhill · Ducktown
Communities: Delano (also McMinn) · Ocoee · Reliance · Old Fort · Turtletown · Farner · Conasauga · Greasy Creek
Official tourism, parks & attractions
Tourism
- Polk County Chamber of Commerce (Ocoee Country) ↗Visitor guide for Polk County · 1857 US-64, Benton · 423-338-5040 · Copper Basin Welcome Center, 150 Ocoee St, Copperhill (daily 10–6).
- Polk County history & heritage ↗The Nancy Ward gravesite, Burra Burra Mine, the Old Copper Road, Reliance Historic District and the Ocoee flume line.
- Tennessee Overhill Heritage Association ↗Heritage tourism for McMinn, Monroe and Polk counties.
Parks & outdoors
- Ocoee River State Park ↗Tennessee’s newest state park (2025): the 1996 Olympic whitewater, Parksville Lake and Sugarloaf Mountain Park in Benton.
- Hiwassee Scenic River State Park ↗Paddling, fishing and birds-of-prey programs · 404 Spring Creek Rd, Delano · 423-263-0050. Gee Creek Campground closes for renovation in spring 2027.
- Ocoee Whitewater Center (U.S. Forest Service) ↗Site of the 1996 Olympic canoe and kayak slalom, with trails along the river · 4400 US-64, Copperhill · $3 parking.
- Ocoee Scenic Byway (U.S. Forest Service) ↗US 64 through the Ocoee River Gorge, past the dams and the historic flume line.
- Chilhowee Recreation Area (U.S. Forest Service) ↗Lake, campground and the Benton Falls trail on Chilhowee Mountain.
Attractions
- Ducktown Basin Museum ↗Copper Basin mining history on the Burra Burra Mine site · 212 Burra Burra St, Ducktown · 423-496-5778 · open early March to late December (closed Sun & Wed).
- Hiwassee Loop & Delano train rides (Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum) ↗Scenic trains through the Hiwassee River Gorge and over the loop near Farner. They board at 9406 Hwy 411, Delano.
- Nancy Ward Gravesite ↗Grave of the Cherokee “Beloved Woman” Nanyehi and her son Fivekiller, on US 411 south of Benton.
Government
- Polk County government ↗County offices, commission and emergency alerts · Courthouse, 6239 Highway 411, Benton · (423) 338-4527.
- City offices: Benton, Ducktown & Copperhill ↗Mayors, city halls and meeting times for all three towns. Benton is the county seat.
- City of Copperhill ↗City hall at 160 Main St, plus the Twin Cities market and events calendar · (423) 496-5141.
Local resources
- Emergency (police · fire · EMS)911Call or text 911 for any emergency.
- Polk County 911 non-emergency — West Polk / Benton(423) 338-8215County-wide dispatch (also the Sheriff’s report line) ⓘ source
- Polk County 911 non-emergency — East Polk / Copper Basin(423) 496-3301Copperhill, Ducktown, Turtletown ⓘ source
- Polk County Sheriff’s Office423-338-4540164 Industrial Access Circle, Benton · Sheriff Steve Ross ⓘ source
- Benton Police Department423-338-5733City Offices, 6496 US-411, Benton (Option 1) ⓘ source
- Polk County Emergency Management(423) 338-10906034 Highway 411, Benton · sign up for emergency alerts ⓘ source
- Polk County Health Department(423) 338-45332279 Parksville Rd, Benton · Copperhill office (423) 496-3275 ⓘ source
- Polk County Schools423-299-0471District office, Benton ⓘ source
- West Polk Public Library(423) 338-4536126 Polk St, Benton ⓘ source
- East Polk Public Library136 Main St, Ducktown · Wed, Fri & Sat 10–4 ⓘ source
- Polk County Veterans Services(423) 338-4557Courthouse, Room 207, 6239 Highway 411, Benton ⓘ source
- Polk County Election Commission(423) 338-45316050 Highway 411, Benton · Election Day Tue Nov 3, 9 AM–8 PM ⓘ source
- Highway emergency (cell)*THP (*847)Tennessee Highway Patrol ⓘ source
Checked Oct 28, 2026 · official sites only · phone numbers copied from each agency’s own page — tap ⓘ to confirm. In an emergency, call 911.
Area news
Headlines from local outlets · Polk County
Gee Creek Campground at Hiwassee Scenic River State Park will close for a bathhouse and infrastructure renovation from early spring 2027, reopening about summer 2028.
Read at Tennessee State Parks →Local 3’s fall events roundup includes the last weekend of Fall at Ocoee Valley Farms in Benton, through Nov. 1.
Read at Local 3 News →A $5.5 million riverfront estate on the Ocoee in Benton is back on the market.
Read at Chattanooga Times Free Press →A boiler malfunction closed Copper Basin Elementary and Copper Basin High for the day on Wednesday, Oct. 21.
Read at NewsChannel 9 →Polk County Schools got its phones and internet back after a widespread outage Tuesday morning.
Read at Local 3 News →Service is back after a cut fiber line knocked out internet, landlines and some cell towers in the Copper Basin. Benton’s 911 center covered calls, and Polk County 911 reminds residents they can text 911.
Read at Local 3 News →TDOT started a $4.19 million safety and repaving project on SR 68 through downtown Copperhill, with wider lanes and new parking layouts. Completion is set for Oct. 31.
Read at NewsChannel 9 →
Short summaries in our words — tap through to read the full story at the outlet. All area news → · Outlet requests: [email protected]
A short history
For generations the mountains and river valleys of what is now Polk County were Cherokee country, and Hernando de Soto camped near the Hiwassee River trading town of Columbus in 1540. The Treaty of 1819 opened the land north of the Hiwassee, and the 1835 Treaty of Removal took the rest. On November 28, 1839, the General Assembly created Polk County from parts of Bradley and McMinn counties and named it for newly elected Governor James K. Polk. In 1840 voters chose McKamy’s stock stand on the Old Federal Road as the county seat and named it Benton, for U.S. Senator Thomas Hart Benton. Nancy Ward (Nanyehi), the Cherokee “Beloved Woman,” spent her last years nearby and is buried south of town beside her son Fivekiller.
Copper was found at Ducktown in 1843, and within four years mule teams were hauling ore south to Dalton, Georgia. After the Old Copper Road and company consolidation in the 1850s, the Copper Basin became one of the South’s great mining districts; open-air roasting after 1891 killed the vegetation for miles and left a red, barren landscape around Ducktown and Copperhill. Copperhill was incorporated in 1913, Benton in 1915 and Ducktown in 1951, and mining in the basin continued until 1987.
TVA built three hydroelectric plants on the Ocoee River and one on the Hiwassee, and the U.S. Forest Service manages about 150,000 acres of the Cherokee National Forest here. In 1996 the Ocoee hosted the Olympic canoe and kayak slalom, the first Olympic whitewater on a natural river. Today the Ducktown Basin Museum on the Burra Burra Mine site, the Hiwassee Scenic River and the new Ocoee River State Park keep that story alive.
Towns & communities
- Benton — county seat since 1840; Nancy Ward’s gravesite and Sugarloaf Mountain Park
- Copperhill — Copper Basin mill town on the Georgia line, twin to McCaysville, GA
- Ducktown — heart of the Copper Basin; the Ducktown Basin Museum at Burra Burra
- Delano (community; also McMinn) — Hiwassee Scenic River State Park and the loop-train depot
- Ocoee & Reliance (communities) — gateways to the Ocoee and Hiwassee rivers
Our place stories in and near Polk County
Go deeper
Neighboring counties: Bradley County · McMinn County · Monroe County · All counties →
Official visitor links
Checked Oct 27, 2026 · hours, fees and events live on these pages.
Videos
Sources
Checked Oct 27, 2026 · We summarize; follow these for the full history. No hours or fees on this page — check official sites before you go.