Cage Creek was one of a series of solo mountain bike rides I took in the Cumberlands between 2008 and 2011 to try to follow the routes described on Tom Dunigan’s East Tennessee Mountain Bike Web site (tnlandforms.us/mtnbike). The State of Tennessee had acquired much of the Cumberland Mountains in an epic land deal in 2008 opening up a huge tract of land that was barely known outside of hunters and ATV riders and is now part of the North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area. In 2009 I had ridden a longer loop in the area around Bootjack Mountain and now I was looking to explore Cage Creek, which, at least on the map, looked to be an easier ride.
This post was written ten years after the ride from detailed notes, gps mapping, and pictures taken in 2010. Several mines operated by National Coal were active in the area in 2010, but have since closed. At that time, the Google Satellite maps for the area were a particularly sharp set of images taken in the winter when the tree canopy was bare. The resolution on those maps was good enough that it was possible to spot ATV trails through the canopy, so this made my route finding easier. The current Google maps were taken in summer with less resolution, so many areas in the Cumberlands simply now look monotonously green. The old roads described here often had seen recent maintenance, likely by the coal or gas companies. Today’s riders should not expect that the conditions described here remain the same.
Tom Dunigan’s original map
It was 43 miles and 65 minutes of driving to the start of
the ride which was at the junction of TN 116 and the gravel Norma Road,
essentially at the apex of Devils Triangle. The Bootjack Road leading to the
west had a new coat of coarse gravel that guaranteed tough riding from the
start. To add any apprehension there was a light rain at the start.
The start of the ride is a steady climb. I rode 0.2 mile to the west where the main (coal?) road split right and soon lost the loose gravel. The next two miles would feature almost one thousand feet of climbing. I then passed the first of three gas well pads before reaching a split at 1.9 miles where I turned left to follow the Cage Creek Coal bench. These coal benches follow the outcrops of the coal seams that are mined in the Cumberlands. Since rock formations in the Cumberlands are generally flat-lying, these coal benches provide some of the only level riding available to the mountain biker. The 2300’ elevation is about the right elevation for the Big Mary or Windrock coal seams, two of the major producers in the Cumberlands. So, it is never a surprise to find development in the mountains at this elevation. Happily, the Cage Creek road was smooth, gentle, lightly gravelled, and well maintained. There were several rough spur trails leading off the bench road, but none seemed ridable, or likely to lead anywhere interesting.
Gravel roads don't get better than this
I whizzed along the bench to a small coal pond at 3.6 miles where an unridable looking path branched right up the hill. Not much beyond I saw my first wildlife of the ride; a giant mud turtle moseying along the road. The riding was still nice and easy, but I noticed that around 5.3 miles that the road was getting narrower and water holes were more common.
The road along the 2300' Bench
Some slower traffic along the road
I crossed a powerline cut at 6.7 miles and then at 7.0 miles a steep ATV track entered on the right. This is potentially “Cheryl’s Cutoff” a key link in the efforts of Cheryl and Curtis Travis to explore this area back in the Dunigan era (probably pre-1999 by looking at the dates on his web site). Looping around the head of the drainage, at 7.8 miles, I recrossed the powerline where I spotted a small band of wild turkeys. Luckily, the condition of the road was holding up. Someone even had thoughtfully placed an old recliner along side the road at 8.9 miles, a great place for a tired rider to relax. At 10.1 miles I reached Brier Gap, and a demolished trailer, where the route leaves the Cage Creek drainage.
An old highwall left over from coal mining
Remains of an old trailer
At 11.5 miles I reached another major junction. A left turn here would take me down to TN 116 at Rosedale and close to the end of my ride, but I decided to try the right fork that would lead out another coal bench to the top of an old cable used to transport coal to a coal processing plant along the New River.
View down the powerline cut
The right fork continued to lead west at 2300’ out to some abandoned coal piles at 12.0 miles and a concrete foundation that presumably mark an old coal loading station. The road got rougher beyond this point, and I was only able to ride the bike to 12.7 miles before dismounting and walking the rest of the way. Without the bike odometer I used my handheld GPS to measure this side trip. I crossed the powerline again, this time with good views of the windmills on Buffalo Mountain. I got to the top of old cable line in another 0.7 mile, but all I could see was a large flat area and some iron staining in the creek. I saw no old structures or remains of the cable line. However, even by May standards the area was very overgrown and potentially some exploring in winter might reveal some artifacts. There is now a gas well just short of the powerline, so at least the start of this road is open.
Returning to the original 11.5 mile major junction to Rosedale my bike odometer now read 14.0 miles after the side trip. The descent started steeply and was badly rutted. At one point the road split, and I went left off the map route where the main grassy road continued straight. About a quarter mile later the two routes merged. Things stayed steep and sketchy for the 900’ descent. I ended up walking my bike a few pitches downhill. At 15.6 miles, I reached TN 116 by a house and across from closed Rosedale Elementary School.
Rosedale School
Rather than ride directly back to the car I took two detours off TN 116 on the return. The first was only 0.4 mile past Rosedale at 16.0 miles; I rode across the New River on a road leading to National Coal Mine 3B. As this road was covered in coarse gravel I turned around after only a quarter of a mile or so. Next at 18.5 miles I turned left off the highway to ride up the road along Cage Creek. In two miles I came to the remains of National Coal Mine 3, a series of small adits driven into the walls of the north side of the creek. The watchman was amazed to see someone ride up on a bike. He told me the mine was preparing to close. There were a few trailers remaining, but the rest of the equipment had been moved off site. Looking again at the Google Satellite images it appears that the entire north side of the Cage Creek drainage has been logged, but the access road still looks open. Back at TN 116, it was only another 0.8 mile on the road to close the loop at 19.3 miles.
The current (2020) Google Maps for Cage Creek show that
the north side of the watershed has been logged, and that the bench road is
still easily visible, and therefore likely ridable. It is not possible to tell
how long ago, but recent logging would indicate the road system is likely in
place, but older logging would more likely lead to a brier infested nightmare.
There aren’t any other gas wells on the road, so likely it won’t be maintained.
The south side of the road is less visible on the Google
Map. However, there is now a gas well at Brier Gap, so it is likely the road up
from Rosedale receives some maintenance, and then it is likely that at least
ATV riders can complete the whole loop.
Subtracting the mileage counted at the start of my side
trip to the cable the main loop at Cage Creek is 16.8 miles around. Adding in another
1.5 miles for the foot travel to the cable, 0.6 mile RT on the Mine 3B road,
and 4.2 miles RT along Cage Creek, the route as I rode it is 25.6 miles. I saw no
other people on this trip.
