Indian Mountain State Park facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Indian Mountain State Park |
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Indian Mountain rising above Indian Mountain Lake
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| Type | Tennessee State Park |
| Location | Jellico, Tennessee |
| Area | 213 acres (0.86 km2) |
| Created | 1971 |
| Operated by | Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation |
| Website | Indian Mountain State Park |
Indian Mountain State Park is a fun place to visit in Campbell County, Tennessee. It's a state park that opened in 1971. The park covers about 213 acres (0.86 square kilometers) and sits at the bottom of Indian Mountain. This mountain is 1,949 feet (594 meters) tall and looks over the Elk Valley in the Cumberland Mountains. The park is right next to the city of Jellico, and their stories are very connected.
What makes Indian Mountain State Park special is that it was built on land that used to be a strip mine. This means it was a place where coal was dug up from the surface of the earth. The park shows how land that has been mined can be cleaned up and used again for fun activities like hiking and fishing. The park is in a flat, low-lying area near Elk Creek. It has a small lake and several big ponds. The border between Tennessee and Kentucky is the northern edge of the park.
Where is Indian Mountain State Park?
Elk Creek starts on Braden Mountain and flows north. It carves a 15-mile (24-kilometer) valley between the Jellico Mountain area to the west and Pine Mountain to the east. As the creek gets closer to Jellico, the valley opens up into a wide, flat area about 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) across. Jellico is in the northeastern part of this flat area. Indian Mountain State Park is in the northwestern part of the valley, between Jellico and Indian Mountain.
Elk Creek divides Indian Mountain State Park into two parts. The western part has the 6-acre (0.024 square kilometer) Indian Mountain Lake. This lake is at the base of Indian Mountain and is next to the park's camping area. Ballard Lake, a large pond, is in the eastern part of the park. There are also a few smaller ponds around the park's edges. Elk Creek flows out of the park and is part of the Cumberland River system.
Interstate 75 goes through the Clear Fork Valley, just east of the park. This highway connects the park area to Lexington in the north and Knoxville in the south. Tennessee State Route 297 meets U.S. Route 25W in Jellico and links the area to Huntsville to the southwest.
How the Park Came to Be
The Cherokee people gave up their claim to what is now Campbell County in 1805. However, the northern Elk Valley didn't have many people living there for most of the 1800s. A road connecting Campbell County to Kentucky went through this area. During the American Civil War, a part of the Confederate Army might have used this road to enter Kentucky in 1862. Over time, a small village called "Smithburgh" grew near this road. But by 1878, Smithburgh was just a post office and a few houses.
In the early 1880s, a special kind of coal was found on Jellico Mountain. This "Jellico coal" burned slowly and didn't leave much ash. Because of the new demand for this coal, Smithburgh changed its name to Jellico in 1883. Around the same time, the railroad arrived, which made it possible to mine a lot of coal. Soon, many mining operations started all over the Elk Valley.
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, most coal mining was done underground. Campbell County became the biggest coal producer in Tennessee, digging up over one million tons (about 900,000 metric tons) each year between 1912 and 1924. But by the 1940s and 1950s, mining companies preferred surface mining. During this time, the Saxton Coal Company ran a big surface mine where Indian Mountain State Park is now. In 1960, after all the coal was gone and the mine was left empty, the City of Jellico took over the land. With help from state and federal groups, they started to fix up the damaged land. Indian Mountain State Park officially opened in 1971.
What to Do at the Park Today
Indian Mountain State Park has a campground with 49 places to set up tents or RVs. There are also three picnic areas and three walking trails. Indian Mountain Lake and several ponds in the park are filled with fish like catfish, bluegill, large-mouthed bass, and crappie, so you can go fishing. You can also rent pedal boats to use on Indian Mountain Lake. There are several sports fields along London Avenue in the park's northeast part.
The park has two official walking trails on both sides of Elk Creek. The Indian Mountain Lake Trail is a paved 1-mile (1.6-kilometer) loop that goes around the east side of Indian Mountain Lake. The Ballard Lake Nature Trail is a 0.75-mile (1.2-kilometer) loop that winds along the wooded edges of Ballard Lake. There's also another half-mile trail that isn't marked, which goes around a pond in the park's southeast section.
