The park is situated on the western shore of the Kentucky Lake impoundment of the Tennessee River, just north of the community of Eva.

The park is named after Confederate General and Ku Klux Klan leader Nathan Bedford Forrest (1821–1877), who conducted operations in the area during the U.S. Civil War.

Pilot Knob is the pinnacle of a ridge that extends approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) northwestwardly to the Harmon Creek valley, along the park's northwestern boundary.

In 1940, University of Tennessee archaeologists excavated a substantial Archaic period (8000-1000 BC) site along Cypress Creek, near the park's southern boundary.

At the Eva site, University of Tennessee archaeologists Thomas Lewis and Madeline Kneburg uncovered 180 human burials and artifacts dating to roughly 5200 BC.

[3] In the Fall of 1864, at the height of the U.S. Civil War, General William T. Sherman captured the city of Atlanta and began making preparations to march south to Savannah.

Hoping to lure Sherman northward, General John Bell Hood initiated maneuvers intended to cut Union supply lines in Tennessee.

In early November, Forrest managed to secretly position his artillery on the west bank of the river, opposite the Federal supply depot at Johnsonville.

The Paffords held Independence Day celebrations near the modern park entrance that drew visitors from all over the county, and eventually featured Grand Ole Opry performers.

[8] In December 1929, the state of Tennessee established Nathan Bedford Forrest Memorial Park atop Pilot Knob, which had been donated by the Paffords.

In the mid-to-late 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration arrived to build the park's roads, trails, and facilities.