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Frozen Head State Park
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Frozen Head State Park
Frozen Head State Park and Natural Area is a state park in Morgan County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The park, situated in the Crab Orchard Mountains between the city of Wartburg and the community of Petros, contains some of the highest mountains in Tennessee west of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Frozen Head State Park consists of approximately 24,000 acres (97 km2), all but 330 acres (1.3 km2) of which is classified as a state natural area. The terrain varies between 1,300 ft (400 m) to over 3,000 ft (910 m) with 14 peaks at or over 3,000 feet (910 m). Frozen Head, the park's namesake, is the highest peak at 3,324 feet (1,013 m). The mountain's name comes from its snow-capped appearance in colder months. The park's highest elevations allow for unobstructed views of East Tennessee's three main physiographic features: the Cumberland Plateau, the Tennessee Valley, and across the valley, the Great Smoky Mountains.
The Crab Orchard Mountains rise along the Cumberland Plateau just west of the plateau's Walden Ridge escarpment, north of the Sequatchie Valley, and comprise the southern extreme of the greater Cumberland Mountain range. The mountains are generally composed of Paleozoic sandstones and shales of the Pennsylvanian period, formed roughly 300 million years ago. Although the rocks are much younger than the Precambrian igneous rocks of the Appalachian Mountains to the east, the two mountain systems were both formed during the Appalachian orogeny, when the North American and African plates collided.
Frozen Head State Park is centered along the Flat Fork Valley, a bottomland between Bird Mountain and Old Mac Mountain. The valley's namesake, Flat Fork, rises on the southern slopes of Bird Mountain and follows the entire length of the mountain's southern base before emptying into Crooked Fork near Wartburg. Flat Fork, along with most streams in the park, is drained by the Emory River, the headwaters of which are located along Bird Mountain's northern slopes.
Frozen Head, the park's highest mountain, rises near the center of the park. The mountain crowns a ridge that rises from State Highway 62 to the south, peaks at Frozen Head, and maintains a relatively high ridgeline before intersecting Fork Mountain in the northern section of the park. Most of the park's major mountains run perpendicular to this central ridge.
In 1988, the vast majority of Frozen Head State Park's acreage was classified as a state natural area. The non-designated area consists of 330 acres (1.3 km2) at the confluence of Flat Fork and Judge Branch where park offices and the campground are located. This designation, along with the park's previous designation as a state forest, have allowed a mature forest habitat to develop.
The forest in Frozen Head's lower elevations consists of a mixed mesophytic forest, and includes species of hemlock, maple, tulip poplar, oak, and hickory. As elevation increases along mountain slopes, the mesophytic forest gives way to an oak forest consisting largely of white oak and tulip poplar. Chestnut oak and shortleaf pine are the dominant species along the higher ridge crests and mountain tops.
Frozen Head— elevation 3,324 feet (1,013 m), located near the center of the park. Frozen Head consists of a long ridge that forms an amphitheater-like formation above the Stockstill Valley (occupied by Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary) with the summit at the north end and a subpeak known as Indian Knob (el. 3,054 feet (931 m)) at the south end.
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Frozen Head State Park
Frozen Head State Park and Natural Area is a state park in Morgan County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The park, situated in the Crab Orchard Mountains between the city of Wartburg and the community of Petros, contains some of the highest mountains in Tennessee west of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Frozen Head State Park consists of approximately 24,000 acres (97 km2), all but 330 acres (1.3 km2) of which is classified as a state natural area. The terrain varies between 1,300 ft (400 m) to over 3,000 ft (910 m) with 14 peaks at or over 3,000 feet (910 m). Frozen Head, the park's namesake, is the highest peak at 3,324 feet (1,013 m). The mountain's name comes from its snow-capped appearance in colder months. The park's highest elevations allow for unobstructed views of East Tennessee's three main physiographic features: the Cumberland Plateau, the Tennessee Valley, and across the valley, the Great Smoky Mountains.
The Crab Orchard Mountains rise along the Cumberland Plateau just west of the plateau's Walden Ridge escarpment, north of the Sequatchie Valley, and comprise the southern extreme of the greater Cumberland Mountain range. The mountains are generally composed of Paleozoic sandstones and shales of the Pennsylvanian period, formed roughly 300 million years ago. Although the rocks are much younger than the Precambrian igneous rocks of the Appalachian Mountains to the east, the two mountain systems were both formed during the Appalachian orogeny, when the North American and African plates collided.
Frozen Head State Park is centered along the Flat Fork Valley, a bottomland between Bird Mountain and Old Mac Mountain. The valley's namesake, Flat Fork, rises on the southern slopes of Bird Mountain and follows the entire length of the mountain's southern base before emptying into Crooked Fork near Wartburg. Flat Fork, along with most streams in the park, is drained by the Emory River, the headwaters of which are located along Bird Mountain's northern slopes.
Frozen Head, the park's highest mountain, rises near the center of the park. The mountain crowns a ridge that rises from State Highway 62 to the south, peaks at Frozen Head, and maintains a relatively high ridgeline before intersecting Fork Mountain in the northern section of the park. Most of the park's major mountains run perpendicular to this central ridge.
In 1988, the vast majority of Frozen Head State Park's acreage was classified as a state natural area. The non-designated area consists of 330 acres (1.3 km2) at the confluence of Flat Fork and Judge Branch where park offices and the campground are located. This designation, along with the park's previous designation as a state forest, have allowed a mature forest habitat to develop.
The forest in Frozen Head's lower elevations consists of a mixed mesophytic forest, and includes species of hemlock, maple, tulip poplar, oak, and hickory. As elevation increases along mountain slopes, the mesophytic forest gives way to an oak forest consisting largely of white oak and tulip poplar. Chestnut oak and shortleaf pine are the dominant species along the higher ridge crests and mountain tops.
Frozen Head— elevation 3,324 feet (1,013 m), located near the center of the park. Frozen Head consists of a long ridge that forms an amphitheater-like formation above the Stockstill Valley (occupied by Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary) with the summit at the north end and a subpeak known as Indian Knob (el. 3,054 feet (931 m)) at the south end.