Big Bone Lick
| Big Bone Lick State Park | |
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 Location in Kentucky
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| Type | Kentucky state park |
| Location | Boone County, Kentucky |
| Nearest city | Union, Kentucky |
| Coordinates | 38°53′13″N 84°44′52″W / 38.88694°N 84.74778°WCoordinates: 38°53′13″N 84°44′52″W / 38.88694°N 84.74778°W |
| Area | 525 acres (212 ha) |
| Elevation | 469 feet (143 m) |
| Created | 1960 |
| Operated by | Kentucky Department of Parks |
| Open | Year-round |
| NRHP Reference # | 72001585 |
| Added to NRHP | June 13, 1972 |
| Designated | 2009 |
Big Bone Lick State Park is located at Big Bone in Boone County, Kentucky. The name of the park comes from the fossils found there. Mammoths are believed to have been drawn to this location by a salt lick deposited around sulphur springs. Other animals including forms of bison, caribou, deer, [[elk], horse, mastodon, moose, musk ox, peccary, sloth, and possibly tapir also grazed the vegetation and salty earth around the springs that the animals relied on for their diet. The area near the springs was very soft and marshy causing many animals to become stuck with no way to escape. It bills itself as "the birthplace of American paleontology", a term which dates from the 1807 expedition by William Clark undertaken at the direction of President Thomas Jefferson. In Nicholas Cresswell's journal, dated 1774 to 1777, he records a visit in 1775 to what was then called "Elephant Bone Lick." In this account, Cresswell describes finding several bones of "prodigious size", as well as tusk fragments, and teeth—one weighing approximately 10 pounds. While he assumed the bones were from ancient elephants, the local native traditions claimed the bones to be those of white buffaloes that had been poisoned by the salty water.
In 2002, the National Park Service designated Big Bone Lick State Park as an official Lewis and Clark Heritage Trail Site. The park was also listed in 1972 on the National Register of Historic Places and was further listed as a National Natural Landmark in February 2009.
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