Coal Mine Spring
Located on Orange Trail, not far from Fry Camp and near the Layne Cemetery, is a clear running spring that comes from an old Coal Mine entrance. When mines were exhausted of coal the entrances were usually caved in for safety reasons. They often turn into springs as earth filtered water finds a path out of the mountain through these old tunnels. Take some time to look around for some of the old steel rail that was used for the coal carts and you will likely find some coal lying around on this part of Orange Trail. Feel free to take a piece of coal home as a souvenir of your time at Camp Chet.
Coal was a large part of the history of this mountain and all of the Camp Chet land was coal property for a period of time. A tragedy in 1981 effectively shutdown the thriving industry here.
Click here to learn what happened and meet some of the families affected: Mine 21 Whitwell TN