Stone Creek Outdoor Classroom and Community Park

Upper Tennessee River Roundtable and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Keep Southwest Virginia Beautiful cordially invite you to the Grand Opening of the Stone Creek Outdoor Classroom and Community Park Pennington Gap, VA.
April 24, 2014
10 a.m. – 12 noon

Located at the former Osborne Coal Tipple Yard along Straight Creek near St. Charles, Virginia in the Stone Creek Community in Lee County, this site served as a transfer station where trucks delivered coal for train pickup and delivery. With extensive partner support and collaboration both behind the scenes and on-the-ground, the Stone Creek Outdoor Classroom and Community Park is a reality. 

In 2010, Upper Tennessee River Roundtable received funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Environmental Contaminants Program to purchase the land at the former tipple site and transfer ownership to Lee County. Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy along with Daniel Boone Soil and Water Conservation District, supervised the land acquisition and arranged for reclamation work on the site. Coal facilities, structures, and surface coal deposits were removed. The transformation continued with stream bioengineering, native plant restoration, recreational trails, learning stations with interpretive signage, public parking, recycled material benches, handmade pavers, and fencing.