Horse Pens 40

Horse Pens 40 is a privately owned outdoor nature park located in St. Clair County near Steele, Alabama. The park is situated atop Alabama's third-highest mountain, Chandler Mountain, in the foothills of The Appalachian Mountains. The park is known among the rock climbing community as a premier bouldering site in the American Southeast. The site is also home to a "Bluegrass Park" where it hosts festivals showcasing the genre several times per year. The biggest of these festivals occurs on the Fourth of July. The park features both RV and primitive camping.The park is recognized by the Alabama State Legislature in House/Senate Joint Resolution 177 as "The Home of the South's Bluegrass Music". The park got its name from the original deed; which when allocating the area of the plot stated "the home 40, the farming 40, and the horse pens 40"; each tract containing 40acre of land.Each year, the park hosts a leg of the "Triple Crown" bouldering competition.HistoryThe natural rock shelters located in Horse Pens 40 have seen over 15,000 years of human habitation. The park contains ancient Indian burial grounds dating from the earliest inhabitants of this area, all the way up to the time of the Cherokee removal known as the "Trail of Tears". The Creek and Cherokee tribes at various times used the natural rock formations to trap and corral horses, as a natural fortress in times of war, and as a sheltered village area in times of peace. The site played host to the only peace treaty ever signed between the Creek and Cherokee tribes.