Finger Lakes State Park is a public recreation area consisting of in
Boone County near the city of
Columbia,
Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
. The
state park
State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...
is unusual in that the site was
reclaimed after having been
strip mined for
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when dea ...
.
[ It is one of two state parks in Missouri used for off-road vehicles. The history of the other, St. Joe State Park, is also connected with mining. It is adjacent to Rocky Fork Lakes Conservation Area.
]
History
Between 1964 and 1967, the area was known as Peabody Coal's Mark Twain Mine, from which the company removed 1.2 million short ton
The short ton (symbol tn) is a measurement unit equal to . It is commonly used in the United States, where it is known simply as a ton,
although the term is ambiguous, the single word being variously used for short, long, and metric ton.
The vari ...
s (1.1 Tg) of coal. In 1974, Peabody donated the land to the state for use as a park. The state restored the site with federal grant money that was issued with the intent to demonstrate the conversion of strip-mined land to recreational use.[
]
Features
The park has many hills and gullies that are crossed by more than of trails for off-road motorcycle
A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...
s, ATVs
ATV may refer to:
Broadcasting
* Amateur television
*Analog television
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* Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra
* ATV (Armenia)
* ATV (Aruba), NBC affiliate
* ATV (Australian TV station), Melbourne
* ATV (Austria)
* ATV ...
, and motocross. A corridor of water, created by joining small isolated lakes left from the mining operations, is used for canoeing, fishing, swimming, and scuba diving.
Activities and amenities
Activities at the park include camping, fishing, kayaking, picnicking, swimming, mountain biking, and ATV riding.[
]
See also
* Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977
* Peabody River State Fish and Wildlife Area: Illinois state park on reclaimed Peabody coal mines
* St. Joe State Park: Missouri state park on reclaimed lead mines
References
External links
Finger Lakes State Park
Missouri Department of Natural Resources
Finger Lakes State Park Map
Missouri Department of Natural Resources
{{authority control
State parks of Missouri
Protected areas of Boone County, Missouri
Landforms of Boone County, Missouri
Protected areas established in 1973
Mine reclamation
Peabody Energy