Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park has completed the Platinum Recognition Level of the TN State Parks Go Green With Us Initiative and Guidelines. The guidelines include multiple areas of environmental sustainability, including education and outreach, water conservation, energy efficiency, waste and recycling, and much more. Congrats to this park for going above and beyond to be excellent stewards of our natural resources.

The mission of the Tennessee State Parks Go Green With Us program is to preserve and protect our state parks through sustainable park operations, resource conservation, and recycling. Program components cover a diverse array of initiatives, including energy and water conservation through equipment and operations upgrades, recycling programs, projects to enhance ecosystem health, and erosion control, among many others.

• Sycamore Shoals State Park has conducted an energy audit to assess energy usage and is currently tracking use to identify areas for improvement.
• The Sabine Hill historic house museum is heated and cooled with a geothermal system, concentrating the naturally existing heat within the earth to provide natural climate control from a clean, reliable, and renewable energy source.
• The visitor’s center has reflective window film, which reflects sunlight keeping the building cool and the energy costs down. The film is transparent and doesn’t change the view out the window.
• Older spotlights at the historic Carter Mansion are being replaced with LEDs as needed.
• Ranger residences have tankless water heaters that only heat water as needed instead of constantly running to keep a large tank of water hot.
• The park is enhancing ecosystem health with butterfly gardens and is a certified Monarch Waystation Site which means that it meets the habitat needs of monarch butterflies during the butterflies’ annual migration across North America.
• Sycamore Shoals also holds regular volunteer litter pickup events.
• Electric vehicle charging stations are located at the Sycamore Shoals Visitor Center.