![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Old-Stone-Fort-Bridge-1024x683.jpg\")
Someoftheeventstheparkhostsincludeatlatlthrowingcontests, flint knapping, and a junior ranger camp, as well as every day activities like hiking, fishing, and birding. Despite the wealth of opportunity, Collins said most of their visitors are not local.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI honestly think we get more people from outside of the county, than inside of the county, that participate. We do have a friends group, and they are all local, but they aren\u2019t numerous, and I would love to have more local engagement with our events,\u201d Collins said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Collins is not the only ranger at the state park. Park ranger and manager Keith Wimberley has been working as a ranger at Old Stone Fort for 22 years, and a manager for the past 12. He said the fort has been recognized professionally as one of, if not the most scenic sites preserved in North America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Old Stone Fort is flanked by the Duck River and the Little Duck River,\u201d Wimberley said. \u201cIt\u2019s just a totally beautiful setting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Old Stone Fort is on a peninsula between the two scenic rivers and boasts a museum interpreting the theories on the fort\u2019s builders along with archaeological findings and the historical culture and lineage of its builders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The park has a rich history even beside the prehistoric structure. The banks of the Duck River were home to a rope factory, paper mills, and even a powder factory during the Civil War. The foundations of one of the paper mills can still be seen on the bluffs above Big Falls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The fort is supported in part by a volunteer group called Friends of Old Stone Fort. Wimberley said that while the group is small and could use additional members, they\u2019ve done a lot for the park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey support us through fundraising and volunteer support,\u201d Wimberley said. \u201cThey\u2019ve helped eradicate certain invasive species before, they\u2019ve helped us purchase tree tags and install those tree tags for an arboretum we\u2019re trying to establish… they\u2019re supporting the park in whatever way we need.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite this community support, Wimberley said that even now a lot of people that have lived in Coffee County for years will come for the first time and that many are wanting to do more active recreation, although that\u2019s not the purpose of Old Stone Fort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe park is here to preserve the site, so [visitors] should always remember that when they come to visit,\u201d Wimberley said.\u00a0-GN<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" WHILE THERE are beautiful historic sites all across Tennessee and the world, Coffee County boasts one special historical treasure in its own backyard. The Old Stone Fort State Archaeological Park has been a state park since 1966, focused on protecting one of the most complex prehistoric Native American hilltop enclosures in the South. Park ranger […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":14490,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Big-Falls-1024x683.jpg\")