Like most of the Ridge-and-Valley province, Big Ridge State Park is underlain by early Paleozoic-age rocks created from ancient ocean sediments several hundred million years ago.

[2] Most of Big Ridge State Park is coated in a second-growth southern hardwood forest, with oak, hickory, tuliptree, and basswood being the most common species.

[5] In anticipation of the flooding of the Norris Basin in the 1930s, the Smithsonian Institution conducted an extensive archaeological survey of the region and located nearly two dozen prehistoric Native American sites.

At the confluence of the Clinch and Powell rivers, approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) northwest of the present park boundary, archaeologists excavated a mound nearly 60 feet (18 m) in diameter.

In 1761, a group of long hunters led by Elisha Walden hunted in the Clinch and Powell valleys from a station camp in southwestern Virginia.

As trans-Appalachian migration increased in the waning years of the American Revolution, small forts sprang up throughout the Tennessee Valley to provide migrants with rest stops and protect local settlers from hostile Cherokee attacks.

[8] The Loy and Sharp families both operated iron furnaces using ore mined along Big Ridge, creating mostly tools and household items.

[10] Throughout the 1920s, various groups lobbied state and federal legislatures to gain funding for a dam at the confluence of Cove Creek and the Clinch River.

The Cove Creek Project, as it was initially called, sought to bring electricity to the Clinch region and provide much needed flood control to the Tennessee Valley.

[11] Civilian Conservation Corps Company 4495, which was originally based in Loyston, began work on Big Ridge State Park in October 1934.

[12][13] TVA and the CCC constructed Big Ridge Dam during this period so that the park would have a lake area not affected by seasonal drawdowns of the Norris Reservoir.

[14] Big Ridge State Park currently maintains a 50-site campground, 19 rustic cabins, a large group camp area, a meeting hall, and several athletic fields.

The 1.7-mile (2.7 km) Big Valley Trail follows an old road over Pinnacle Ridge, connecting the Norton Gristmill area with Dark Hollow.

[15] Other historical features include Indian Rock, atop Big Ridge, where a plaque marks the site of the 1794 ambush of Peter Graves.