Standing Stone

Standing Stone State Park is a state park in Overton County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The park consists of 855acre along the shoreline of the man-made 69acre Standing Stone Lake. The 11000acre Standing Stone State Forest surrounds the park.The park and forest were developed in the 1930s as part of New Deal-era initiatives to relocate impoverished farmers and restore forests to degraded and heavily eroded lands. The park was named after the Standing Stone, a mysterious rock believed to be of Native American origin or importance that once stood along the old Walton Road at what is now Monterey. The park offers canoeing, camping, lodging, hiking and many other activities.Geographical settingStanding Stone State Park is situated atop the eastern section of the Highland Rim, a plateau-like upland that surrounds the Nashville Basin. The park is located roughly halfway between the rim's edge along the basin to the west and the higher Cumberland Plateau to the east. The Dale Hollow Lake impoundment of the Obey River dominates the area just a few miles to the north.Mill Creek, the park's major stream, flows down from its source on Reynolds Mountain (near Allons) to the east and winds its way westward through the hills of northern Overton County before emptying into the Cumberland River. At Standing Stone State Park, the steep ridge upon which the park's main facilities are located briefly pushes the westward-flowing Mill Creek southward through a horseshoe bend. At this bend, two of Mill Creek's tributaries, Morgan Creek and Bryans Fork, join Mill Creek at the southeast and southwest, respectively, to form a natural X-shaped body of water. Standing Stone Dam impounds the creek immediately downstream from the bend, forming the X-shaped Standing Stone Lake. Ridges and high hills rise above the lake on all sides, namely 1455ft Cooper Mountain to the east and 1493ft Goodpasture Mountain to the southwest.