| Kinlock Shelter | |
|---|---|
 Panorama of the shelter | |
| Location | Alabama, United States |
| Nearest town | double springs |
| Visitors | Visitation Allowed |
The Kinlock Shelter is a rock shelter and Native American cultural site located just outside Sipsey Wilderness in Bankhead National Forest,[1] near Double Springs, Alabama. The shelter is located not far from Hubbard Creek, near a former Civilian Conservation Corps work camp off Kinlock Road. The name "Kinlock" is taken from a former plantation nearby.[2][3]
Kinlock Shelter, occasionally referred to as the Kinlock Antiquities, is the home of a Native American Winter Solstice sunrise ritual.[4] The shelter was first used by the Yuchi Tribe who used the site and the patterns drawn in the rock as part of a trance-inducing process, and for ceremonial acknowledgement of solar cycles.[3] The site has also been used by other tribes, including the Cherokee. It has been used for many thousands of years.[5]
Possession of alcoholic beverages and camping without a written permit from the United States Forest Service is prohibited inside Kinlock Shelter.[6]
- ^ Rozema, Vicki. Footsteps of the Cherokees. John F. Blair, Publisher. p. 358. ISBN 0-89587-346-X.
- ^ Alabama's Canyons, Charles Seifred
- ^ a b Walking Sipsey, Intro by Terra Manasco, Jim Manasco.
- ^ Walking Sipsey, Jim Manasco.
- ^ "Sacred spaces: Priest identifies 12 'places of secret prayer' in Alabama". Decatur Daily. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
- ^ Crawford, Miera B. (June 15, 2007). "National Forests In Alabama Order Number 20070107" (PDF). Retrieved December 23, 2008.