The Bootjack Mountain route is part of the Fork Mountain
Area mountain bike rides described by Tom Dunigan on his web site: http://www.cs.utk.edu/~dunigan/mtnbike/fork.html.
I had been exploring some of the routes described on this web site and was
looking to use the trail information to connect up another ride that I had done
near Frozen Head. On this ride I was able to make the connection I was looking
for, but didn’t find the type of riding that I’d hoped to discover.
The route starts at the north corner of TN 116, where TN 116
intersects the Norma Road, and also the gravel Wildlife Management Area road up
Bootjack Mountain. I planned to get a really early start to avoid the heat, but
wasted a good bit of time trying to find out where TN 330 leaves Oliver Springs.
I didn’t realize that the road goes off the highway and down into town, and
kept ending up on the road to Windrock before I found the correct route. Getting
lost on the drive to the trailhead is never a good omen.
Once at the trailhead, the gravel WMA road was fine for
riding, just a long continuous climb of 1600’ over the first three miles. I
spent much of the climb in first gear going at about a walking pace. At 0.2
mile a good gravel road headed off to the right along contour. Beyond, there
were a number of other turns ether leading left along old coal benches, or off
to the right side of the mountain. The key turn here happens about 3.5 miles
in, where the route turns left off the main WMA gravel road onto a steep rutted
ATV trail up the north face of the mountain.
An easy section of the gravel WMA road.
But before I reached the key turn, I got pulled off course
onto a coal bench on the south side of Bootjack at 2600’. This road dead ended
after about a mile and a half, and after some fruitless thrashing in the brush looking
for a way out, I gave up and backtracked. On the return I tried to bushwhack up
to the crest, and came agonizingly close to it, but was forced to retreat by
the thick brush and had to thrash my way back down again. Luckily on the
backtrack I met three guys on 4 wheelers. They were very knowledgeable about
the area, and were able to describe exactly where I needed to go to reach to
regain the crest of the mountain.
Looking down the powerline cut into Cage Creek.
Once I left the WMA road at 3.5 miles, the route is a rough
ATV trail, steep, loose, rocky, overgrown, and muddy etc. up to, then along the
mountain crest. The 4 wheeler guys had
told me the ATVs even have trouble with some sections of this. The route took
me over the tops of two highpoints at 2790’ and 2998’. Beyond the 2998’ highpoint, the route turns
southwest and follows the Scott/Anderson County line toward Grassy Gap. I did a
lot of walking here, both uphill and downhill. Beyond Grassy Gap the trail was
less steep, and beyond a powerline at about 7.5 miles, the trail is a more ridable.
Eventually I reached the main gravel road on the west side of Burge Mountain at
around 9 miles. This section on the crest has some good views and catches a
nice breeze. Since this ride, the crest trail from Grassy Gap to near Bunch Gap
has become part of the Cumberland Trail.
Taking a break near Burge Mtn.
I’d planned on riding back via Bootjack, but couldn’t face struggling
on the connector again back to the Bootjack WMA road. From earlier rides I was familiar
with the area around Burge Mtn. and the Indian Fork drainage. I decided to take
the longer, but far easier, way back on the gravel roads and TN 116. From Burge
I rode through the heart of coal country around the head of Indian Creek, onto
Fork Mountain, and then down to the Devonia Coal Plant. These are major gravel
roads, but I found that since my ride the previous year there’s a lot more
coarse loose gravel, and that even the long downhill ride wasn’t all that much fun
as I bounced around trying to control the bike through the coarse loose gravel.
I’ve since found over the years that conditions on this road change a lot, from
almost suitable to passenger cars at best, to almost too rocky and rutted for jeeps
at worst.
Coal Mine Entry.
From the coal plant, I rode 6 miles north on paved, but
lightly trafficked, TN 116 to my car for about 26 miles total. Along the way I
scouted out the gravel roads leading west from Rosedale School and along Cage
Creek that would be the starting and ending points of my Cage Creek Ride. Cage
Creek Blog 
Descending toward the Coal Plant.
This loop wasn’t nearly as fun as some of the other big
loops in the Cumberlands. With the foot travel only Cumberland Trail now on the
crest this route isn’t feasible except on foot. However, at the time it was
worth exploring Bootjack as I was looking to make a cross Cumberlands ride from
Caryville west to Frozen Head. As things turned out, I choose to do that ride via
Smoky Junction up Smoky Creek past Hembree to Burge Mountain on fairly major
gravel roads. Cumberlands
Challenge Ride Blog 
Where, and where not to, ride on Bootjack Mtn.
