Mantle Rock is the largest freestanding arch east of the Mississippi River, measuring 188 feet long and 30 feet high. Some of the plants found here are not known to grow anywhere else in Kentucky. This beautiful and historic place stood near the road where thousands of Cherokee passed in winter while waiting for a safe river crossing, and many lived in temporary camps that stretched for miles along the road. Exhausted by the journey and staying near supplies and wagons on the road, it is unlikely that many visited Mantle Rock itself. Stories that the Cherokee camped under the arch are contradicted by the great number of people involved and by historical descriptions of a long, linear camp along the road. Other stories claim there were burials under Mantle Rock, but although the Trail of Tears claimed many lives, there is no evidence of burials there. The sandstone glade on top of the arch is one of the highest quality glades in the state, and habitats like it are estimated to have less than one percent remaining, though they are protected here.