Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area

After departing Mammoth in the late afternoon on Tuesday, I drove to Picket Creek State Park in TN to get closer to my next day’s hiking. Typically if I am camping somewhere only for a night I don’t stake my tent. Well 2 hours after going to sleep I was awakened by a fierce wind so I ran to my car to get my hammer to stake my tent down.  After securing it, I retreated to my car as the skies opened up and poured while the wind howled. Thankfully, it was all over in about 15 minutes so I headed back to my tent to sleep. 

The Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area was my destination for Wednesday. It is filled with several arches and scenic overlooks of the river. My first hike was a .7 mile trail to Twin Arches. It’s hard to even capture these arches because they are nestled in the forest. From certain angles I thought they looked like a giant striding through the forest. 

A few miles down the road from the Twin Arches trailhead was Sawmill Trailhead which was my launching point to Slave Falls and Needles Arch.

Needles Arch

Slave Falls

Slave Falls wasn’t flowing very much but the large rock wall and overhangs leading up to it was nice. Needles Arch was much smaller than the Twin Arches but a lot easier to capture on camera. I did a long loop and passed by a huge "rock house"on the way back. It was the longest hike of the day at almost 4 miles. Therefore my next couple stops were short and sweet. 

Inside  the rock house

After stopping for some postcards at the Bandy Creek Visitor Center I ate lunch at Leatherwood Ford where I dipped my toes in the Big South Fork river. A few miles up the road is the East Rim overlook where the river was now hundreds of feet below me.

Leatherwood Ford

East Rim Overlook

That was my last stop in Tennessee and I crossed back into Kentucky to hike to another arch.      


Split Bow Arch is at the same trailhead as the Bear Creek Overlook so I hiked to both. As I was driving to my next destination I saw an overlook for Split Bow Arch but I'm glad I took the time to hike down underneath it because there's a lot of nooks and crannies to explore around Split Bow Arch.

Bear Creek overlook

Split Bow Arch

The Gorge overlook and Devil's Jump overlook offered more views of the river far below. I decided to drive down to the Blue Heron Mining Community and ended up spending over an hour there because it was so fascinating. It is an abandoned coal mining town and closed down in 1962. Because everything was either removed or collapsed, their story is told through open ghost structures that are built over the site of the story they are telling (school, church, superintendents house, etc.). Often times I think its hard to relate to history but as I was going through the exhibits I kept thinking that the kids growing up in this community are my parent's age and how this world existed only 50 years ago. 

Tipple

I debated stopping at Yahoo Falls and Yahoo Arch because I had lost a lot of time at Blue Heron but I figured arches were the theme of the day so I had to stop. I morphed into a trail runner and sprinted through the woods to the Arch. I blew past the falls because they were barely flowing. So much for viewing the highest waterfall in Kentucky.

Yahoo Arch

Finally I was on the road to my campground but on the drive over I went by Cumberland Falls which I wasn't aware of. Well apparently its the Niagara of the South and its gorgeous! I'm glad I took the time to stop. I finally made it to my campsite at the Cumberland Gap but the unexpected detours are the beauty of road trips and I had a great day exploring the Big South Fork.

Cumberland Falls