Lone Mountain State Forest

Coordinates: 36°04′20″N 84°33′05″W / 36.07220°N 84.55151°W / 36.07220; -84.55151

Lone Mountain, rising above central Morgan County

Lone Mountain State Forest is a state forest in Morgan County, Tennessee, located in the southeastern United States. The forest consists of 3,624 acres (14.67 km²) managed by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture.

Lone Mountain is a detached ridge-like mountain rising to an elevation of 2,530 feet (770 m) in the southern half of Morgan County. Although the mountain's altitude isn't particularly notable, its isolation makes it one of the 25 most prominent mountains in the state of Tennessee.^[1]

Geographical setting

Coyote Point, on the south slope of Lone Mountain

Lone Mountain is located on the western fringe of the Crab Orchard Mountains, which rise atop the Cumberland Plateau just west of the plateau's Walden Ridge escarpment. The mountain's western base is formed by the Emory River, which flows down from its source near the summit of Bird Mountain to the northeast and winds around the base of the range before descending the plateau and emptying into the Watts Bar Lake impoundment of the Tennessee River. Lone Mountain's northern base is formed by Crooked Fork, a tributary of the Emory. Bitter Creek, which flows roughly parallel to the Emory, slices a substantial valley along Lone Mountain's eastern base, splitting the mountain off from the rest of the Crab Orchard range.

Lone Mountain spans much of the stretch of U.S. Route 27 between Harriman and Wartburg. The community of Mossy Grove is situated at the mountain's eastern base in the Bitter Creek valley.

History

Rankin Spring, a watering hole on the east slope of Lone Mountain

Lone Mountain State Forest was created from a land donation by the Lone Mountain Land Company in 1938 and a large land purchase by the Morgan County Chancery Court the following year. Lone Mountain was managed as part of Morgan State Forest until 1970, when it became an independent state forest. The State Forestry Division managed Lone Mountain with a "hands-off" approach to allow the forest to recover from damage caused by the Lone Mountain Land Company. Timber harvests within the forest are therefore relatively rare.^[2]

In 2002, a tornado swept across Morgan County, devastating the community of Mossy Grove and wiping out some 500 acres (2.0 km²) of trees in Lone Mountain State Forest. The tornado caused the closure of the Carl Black Spur trail which remains closed as of 2008. Forestry officials plan to have the Carl Black Spur trail open for the public again soon. The tornado opened up the opportunity for a new trail aptly named Twister Pass which runs from the South West trail up to Todds Landing. Southern pine beetle infestations in the 1970s and 1990s killed off a large number of the forest's pine trees, leaving mostly hardwoods.^[3]

Features

Lone Mountain has approximately 15 miles (24 km) of trails, the most popular of which leads to Coyote Point, an overlook just below the summit on the south slope of the mountain. The trails were developed in the late 1980s for horseback riding, and are well-equipped with watering holes and hitching posts. The trails are also open to hikers and mountain bikers. The trailhead is located just west of US-27 along Clayton Howard Road.

References

↑ Ryan Richardson, "Tennessee P1000 Summits." 15 May 2005. Retrieved: 11 January 2008.
↑ The Rainforest Alliance SmartWood Program, "Forest Management Public Summary for Tennessee Department of Agriculture - Forestry Division," 1 October 2002. Retrieved: 11 January 2008.
↑ The Tennessee Department of Agriculture, "Lone Mountain State Forest." Retrieved: 11 January 2008.

External links

Lone Mountain State Forest Trail Map — provided by TennesseeOutdoorsman.com
East Tennessee Mountain Bike Rides - Lone Mountain — contains trail information and trail maps

Protected areas of Tennessee

Federal

National Parks	Great Smoky Mountains National Park

National Historical Parks & Sites	Andrew Johnson National Historic Site Cumberland Gap National Historical Park Manhattan Project National Historical Park

National Military Parks	Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Fort Donelson National Battlefield Fort Donelson National Cemetery Shiloh National Cemetery Shiloh National Military Park Stones River National Battlefield Stones River National Cemetery

National Recreation Areas	Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area

National Trails System	Appalachian National Scenic Trail Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail Trail of Tears National Historic Trail

National Forests	Cherokee National Forest

National Wildlife Refuges	Chickasaw Cross Creeks Hatchie Lake Isom Lower Hatchie Reelfoot Tennessee

Wilderness Areas	Bald River Gorge Big Frog Big Laurel Branch Citico Creek Cohutta Gee Creek Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Little Frog Mountain Pond Mountain Sampson Mountain Unaka Mountain

Other Protected Areas	Foothills Parkway Gatlinburg Bypass Natchez Trace Parkway Obed Wild and Scenic River

State

East Tennessee State Parks	Big Ridge Booker T. Washington Cove Lake Cumberland Mountain Davy Crockett Birthplace Fall Creek Falls Fort Loudoun Frozen Head Harrison Bay Hiwassee/Ocoee Indian Mountain Justin P. Wilson Cumberland Trail Norris Dam Panther Creek Red Clay Roan Mountain Rocky Fork Seven Islands Sycamore Shoals Warriors' Path

Middle Tennessee State Parks	Bicentennial Capitol Mall Bledsoe Creek Burgess Falls Cedars Of Lebanon Cordell Hull Birthplace Cummins Falls David Crockett Dunbar Cave Edgar Evins Fall Creek Falls Harpeth River Henry Horton Johnsonville Long Hunter Montgomery Bell Mousetail Landing Old Stone Fort Pickett Port Royal Rock Island Sgt. Alvin C. York South Cumberland Standing Stone Tims Ford

West Tennessee State Parks	Big Cypress Tree Big Hill Pond Chickasaw Fort Pillow Meeman-Shelby Forest Nathan Bedford Forrest Natchez Trace Paris Landing Pickwick Landing Pinson Mounds Reelfoot Lake T.O. Fuller

State Forests	Bledsoe Cedars of Lebanon Chickasaw Chuck Swan Franklin John Tully Lewis Lone Mountain Martha Sundquist Natchez Trace Pickett Prentice Cooper Scott Standing Stone Stewart

State Natural Areas	Auntney Hollow Barnett's Woods Bays Mountain Beaman Park Big Bone Cave Campbell Bend Barrens Carroll Cabin Barrens Glade Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lee Carter Chimneys Colditz Cove Couchville Cedar Glade Crowder Cemetary Barrens Devils Backbone Dry Branch Duck River Complex Elsie Quarterman Cedar Glade Falling Water Falls Fate Sanders Barrens Flat Rock Cedar Glade & Barrens Gattinger’s Cedar Glade & Barrens Ghost River Grundy Forest Hampton Creek Cove Hawkins Cove Hicks Gap Hill Forest Honey Creek House Mountain Hubbard’s Cave John & Hester Lane Cedar Glades John Noel at Bon Aqua Langford Branch Laurel-Snow Lost Creek Lucius Burch Jr. Forest Manus Road Cedar Glade May Prairie North Chickamauga Creek Gorge Overbridge Old Forest Ozone Falls Piney Falls Pogue Creek Powell River Radnor Lake Riverwoods Roundtop Mountain Rugby Savage Gulf Sequatchie Cave Short Mountain Short Springs Sneed Road Cedar Glade Stillhouse Hollow Falls Stinging Fork Falls Stones River Cedar Glade & Barrens Sunk Lake Sunnybell Cedar Glade Taylor Hollow Twin Arches Vesta Cedar Glade Vine Cedar Glade Virgin Falls Walker Branch Walls of Jericho Walterhill Floodplain Washmorgan Hollow Watauga River Bluffs William B. Clark William R. Davenport Refuge Wilson School Road Window Cliffs

Other	Catoosa Wildlife Management Area

Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (web) - Tennessee Department of Agriculture (web)

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 2/20/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.