Chuck Sutherland

For the purpose of this blog post I will be treating Standing Stone State Park and Standing Stone State Forest as a single entity. However, they are distinct, and are managed by different entities with different objectives. Both the State Park and State Forest are located entirely within Overton County, Tennessee about 10 miles northwest of the city of Livingston. Fullscreen map. Standing Stone State Park Standing Stone State Park is approximately 1000 acres surrounding Standing Stone Lake. It is itself surrounded by 8000 acres of State Forest of the same name. The park is a celebration of the efforts of the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC). The large earthwork dam is made of hewn sandstone. Being a State Park, this area is managed for recreation. Camping there is popular at their rustic cabins. Most people come for hiking trails, fishing, and for paddle boats or kayaking on the small lake. Standing Stone State Forest There seems to be a degree of confusion as to the mea...

Geography Window Cliffs State Natural Area is located on the Eastern Highland Rim of Tennessee . It is a few miles south of Cookeville, and within Putnam County. It is within the Upper Cumberland region of Tennessee, and within Middle Tennessee. Cane Creek flows through the designated natural area before its confluence with the Falling Water River at Center Hill Lake. Botany In the valley alongside Cane Creek one can find abundant flowering patches of phacelia, phlox, and trilliums. Along the rocky ledges and cliffs watch for bright red flowers of columbine. In a few places you'll also see usnea clinging to dead trees and be reminded of Spanish moss. Geology Cliffs of Fort Payne Limestone atop steep slopes of Chattanooga Shale are the obvious geology throughout the park. The base of the valleys is Catheys-Leipers Limestone, but doesn't play a large roll in the story that one sees at the Window Cliffs. In the above recreation of a map made by Hugh Mill...

Photo credit Annabelle Dempsey City Lake is an artificial impoundment located near Cookeville's Eastlake subdivision. It is within property managed by the city of Cookeville as a park, named City Lake Natural Area . While the history of City Lake in Cookeville is fascinating , I could never cover it as well as Jennie Ivey has. I will simply leave you with a brief explanation of the local geology. The karst spring which feeds the waterfall is formed at the contact of the St. Louis and Warsaw Limestones ( more about those types of waterfalls here ). It is a type of geologic contact based waterfall that is seen throughout the region. Other places include Milligan Road spring, Piper Falls, High Hope Falls, and Peters Falls (all in White County, Tennessee). The reason for this is due to an abundance of chert acting as an aquatard either in the lower portion of the St. Louis, or upper portion of the Warsaw Limestone. This prevents water from moving vertically and forces its latera...

Bee Rock is a spectacular, east-facing overlook and is managed as a city park in Monterey, Tennessee. Like it's counterpart, Meadow Creek Park, it is a great place for rock climbing. Because of its aspect, it's an excellent photographic destination for sunrises for most of the year. In the map above, sunrise angles are shown with geographic context related to Bee Rock. The two angles facing east represent the Summer and Winter solstices (north and south respectively). The green shaded area shows the "viewshed" from the observer's location.

In the late 1980s, the Town of Monterey embarked on a search for a new water source and eventually found a suitable 300-acre tract of land on the Clarkrange Highway, about five miles east on State Route 62. The property, previously a coal mining operation, was located near Meadow Creek and had a terrain that was ideal for a 100-acre lake created by a strategically placed dam on the stream. Despite having 200-plus acres of shoreline, the lake went largely unnoticed until 2015 when the town council realized its potential and authorized the development of a master plan to transform the property into a remarkable park and outdoor enthusiasts' paradise. Meadow Creek Park is still in its early stages, but it has already garnered attention from professional trail builders and volunteer groups with skills that align with the overall plan's objectives. The support of passionate individuals and influential businesses such as the Perdue Foundation and Signature Health has been crucial t...

The Winding Stairs is a unique waterfall located in a city park of the same name in Lafayette, Tennessee. It is a narrow and short limestone canyon formed in the upper Ordovician units of the Nashville Basin physiographic province, with the watershed being mostly within the lower Mississippian Fort Payne Limestone. The waterfall begins in the Ordovician units whose thinly bedded stratigraphy resemble stairs. The park has access for wheelchairs, and has easily accessible overlooks for children and elderly people to enjoy. The trail beyond the paved portion gets steep and rocky very quickly. Steep, rocky terrain with intermittant seeps makes springtime at Winding Stairs an excellent time to find plenty of beautiful wildflowers.