| Kinlock Shelter | |
| Location: | Alabama, United States |
| Nearest Town: | double springs |
| Visitation Num: | 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]