[3] The Sand Mountain area has been inhabited for at least 9,000 years, as evidenced by archaeological finds at nearby Russell Cave National Monument, near Bridgeport, Alabama.

[5] The first Europeans to see it were probably Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto and his men, who are believed to have crossed Sand Mountain during their journey through southeastern North America between 1539 and 1543.

They were unsuccessful, and the opposing armies met at the Battle of Chickamauga on September 19–20, 1863, resulting in a major Confederate victory.

[9] In September 1861, the "Paint Rock Rifles" were raised on Sand Mountain by Confederate Colonel Lemuel Green Mead of Jackson County.

The battalion consisted of five mounted companies and served under Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest in skirmishes along the Tennessee River.

[12] Sand Mountain was home, from 1903 to 1905, to a short-lived commune of forty Russian Jewish families attempting to form a collective farm and manufacturing concern.

Sand Mountain, being located in the mid-South, has long hot humid summers, and winters which are short and mild by comparison to much of the rest of the country, with snow being a real rarity.

[23][24][25][26][27] On Sand Mountain, between 60 and 90 days per year are over 86 °F (30 °C), according to the Heat Zone Map published by the American Horticultural Society.

[23][24][25][26][27] Sand Mountain has higher rainfall than almost anywhere else in the South, including anywhere else in Alabama, with the exception of the Gulf Coast area.