Ancient Alabama: Horse Pens 40

Horse Pens 40 is a 40-acre nature park located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains near the town of Steele, St. Clair County. It is owned by a man who has become a dear friend of the family we properly named "Uncle Mike." The park, which contains a large number of incredibly unique rock formations, sits atop Chandler Mountain which is Alabama's third highest mountain at 1,500 feet. The sandstone formations date to the Pre-Cambrian era between 600 million to 1.3 billion years before the present.

This is a pano of my family on the rocks. Zoom in to catch more details.

The park is extensively used by rock climbers, who scramble up and down the challenging vertical sandstone faces with names like Mushroom Rock, Dinosaur Rock, Turtle Rock, the Headless Hen, and Big Elephant Rock. Extensive boulder fields, rock shelters, and natural stone amphitheaters dominate the landscape. Bright green moss covers many of the rocks in and around the boulders.

I've personally been coming to the park for over 25 years and yesterday was a very beautiful day. I felt it was time to take my family on a spring hike. It was the perfect day with family.

Climbers come from all over the world to participate in "bouldering" on the giant boulders the park is filled with. We had a picnic and sat and watched the climbers who had come from all the way from Ontario, Canada to climb these special rocks. My daughter and I are stacked tiny rocks while we watched.

Interesting fact: One of the oldest human artifacts in North America was discovered here at Horse Pens 40. It is a fossilized deer bone that was sharpened into a spear 13,000 years ago (pre-ice age). Indians have use this place for thousands of years as a ceremonial ground. It is said that the peace treaty between the Cherokee and the Creek Indians took place here at Horse Pens 40. I am grateful that such a place exists just a few minutes from my home.

Go outside!
LeeJ

@thealliance