![Member of Middle Tennessee GeoCachers Club [www.mtgc.org]](https://imgproxy.geocaching.com/3e4f8ad26cd3b430ca7261e8e4b4d4576787e216/687474703a2f2f7777772e6d7467632e6f72672f6d7467635f6d656d6265722d62616e6e65722e676966)
This Cacher Served Honorably in the
United States Army and is a Proud Member of the MAGC:
Land Between The Lakes (LBL) is an inland peninsula formed when the
Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers were impounded to create Kentucky
Lake and Lake Barkley, an inland peninsula was formed.
In 1963, President John F. Kennedy designated the peninsula Land
between The Lakes National Recreation Area in an effort to
demonstrate how an area with limited timber, agricultural and
industrial resources could be converted into a recreation asset
that would stimulate economic growth in the region. Bordered on
three sides by water, Land Between The Lakes is a 170,000-acre
national recreation area in Western Kentucky and Tennessee and
contains 300 miles of beautiful, untouched shoreline, 420 miles of
country roads, 200 miles of hiking trails, live wildlife exhibits,
a planetarium, and a 19th century working farm.
The Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers flow very close to each other
in the northwestern corner of Middle Tennessee and Western
Kentucky, separated by a rather narrow and mostly low ridge. This
area where they are only a few miles apart had been known as
"Between the Rivers" since at least the 1830s or 1840s. After the
Cumberland River was impounded in the 1960s and a canal was
constructed between the two lakes, Land Between The Lakes became
the largest inland peninsula in the United States. Downstream from
this area, the courses of the rivers then diverge again, with the
result being that the mouth of the Cumberland into the Ohio River
is approximately 40 mi (64 km) from that of the Tennessee.
Kentucky Lake was begun in the 1940s on the Tennessee River by the
Tennessee Valley Authority and Lake Barkley in 1959 on the
Cumberland River by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
This natural-color Landsat 7 satellite image shows the Land
Between The Lakes National Recreation Area and the land around the
park in Kentucky and Tennessee. The most striking features in the
landscape are the two deep blue lakes that wrap around the green
forested region between them. Surrounding the area is a
checkerboard of development and agricultural lands. Roads and
clearings crisscross the forest: when the National Recreation Area
was created, the area had a number of small towns and historic
settlements, which were gradually moved out of the protected land.
Roads predating the park in some instances were abandoned, but
others have been modernized to allow access for campers and
explorers. Abandoned furnaces can be found throughout the park
where small-scale iron smelting was done by local settlers in the
18th and 19th centuries.
Kentucky Lake is the largest artificial lake east of the
Mississippi River in the United States, created by the impoundment
of the Tennessee River by Kentucky Dam. It provides a source for
hydro-electric power and is a recreational magnet in western
Kentucky and Tennessee. Kentucky Lake is 184 miles in length, has
2,064 miles of shoreline, covers 160,300 acres with water, was
completed in 1944 and was created by the Kentucky Dam. Kentucky
Lake is one of the largest man-made lakes in the world.
Lake Barkley, a man-made lake in Kentucky and Tennessee, was
impounded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1966 upon the
completion of Barkley Dam. The dam impounds the Cumberland River
near Grand Rivers, Kentucky, approximately 38 miles (61 km)
upstream from where the Cumberland empties into the Ohio River. One
mile (1.6 km) above the dam is a canal connecting Lake Barkley with
Kentucky Lake. The lakes run parallel courses for more than 50
miles (80 km), with the Land Between the Lakes recreational area
located between them.
Lake Barkley is 134 miles (216 km) long with a shoreline measuring
1,004 miles (1616 km) covering 57,900 acres with water and was
completed in 1964. The lake's level is maintained at different
levels throughout the year for flood control purposes. Summer pool,
359 ft (109 m) above sea level, is normally reached by May 1. The
water level begins dropping gradually on July 1, and winter pool
(354 ft/107 m) is reached by December 1. The spring rise starts
April 1. The lake's water surface area varies accordingly from
57,920 acres (234 km²) at summer pool to 45,210 acres (183 km²) at
winter pool.
As with the formation of Kentucky Lake, communities were flooded
in the 1960's to build Lake Barkley. You may hear someone refer to
Eddyville and "Old Eddyville", as well as Kuttawa and "Old
Kuttawa". The "Old" areas were the portions of the cities that were
left above the water after the areas were flooded; these old areas
are now lakefront. The present-day cities were created after the
lake was formed. Old foundations and streets, previously flooded,
are still visible during winter pool. Highways were even relocated,
including US 68 and US 62, along with state routes and smaller
streets. The Illinois Central Railroad was relocated and can still
be seen under water from low flying planes above.
The 700-acre Elk and Bison Prairie in the center of the parkland
recreates the prairie ecosystem that dominated the landscape before
European settlers arrived. Ecologists believe that the area was
probably at the far eastern edge of the vast Great Plains, an
ecosystem where frequent fires would have suppressed trees and
maintained a mix of fast-growing grasses and wildflowers. Planting
of crops and fire suppression by European settlers allowed trees to
gain the upper hand, and now the area is forest covered. A
floristic survey was conducted of the Elk and Bison Prairie, Land
Between The Lakes National Recreation Area during the growing
seasons of 2003 and 2004. The 265.5 ha fenced enclosure lies 1.0 km
from Golden Pond, Kentucky, in western Trigg County within the
Western Highland Rim of the Interior Low Plateau Province. Vascular
plants consist of 497 specific and infraspecific taxa in 273 genera
from 93 families. Ninety-four (18.9%) were exotics. Plant
representation is seven Polypodiophyta, four Pinophyta, and 486
Magnoliophyta (129 Liliopsida, 357 Magnoliopsida). The largest
families in species richness were the Poaceae (75), Asteraceae
(71), Fabaceae (46), Cyperaceae (25), Lamiaceae (20), and Rosaceae
(15). The largest genera were Carex (17), Panicum (15), Lespedeza
(9), Desmodium (8), Eupatorium (8), and Juncus, Quercus, and
Solidago (7 each). Carex gravida, Uvularia sessilifolia, and Vulpia
myuros were documented for the first time from the Land Between The
Lakes National Recreation Area.
In order to successfully log this cache:
a) Go to this location and upload a picture of you or you and your
group with your GPS in front of the nearby facility.
b) According to the above mentioned floristic survey, what are
seven major plant habitats?
c) According to Schnabel and MacKallor 1964, the geology includes
what three deposit systems in the vicinity of the Elk and Bison
Prarie?
Determine what these are and email the answers to the cache owner's
email address, via Geocaching.com.
If you are participating as a group, please list the other caching
names of your party.
Please enjoy the many other caches in the LBL. This area is
spectacular.
From These Sources, Learn More
About:
- Elk and Bison Prarie, Land Between the Lakes National Recreation
Area -
http://www.lbl.org/
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17336
http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/imagegallery.php?EntryID=L005
http://www.natureserve.org/library/landBetweenLakes.pdf
http://www.epa.gov/ecopage/upland/oak/oak94/Proceedings/Franklin.html
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4060/is_200606/ai_n16686996