Pickett State Forest TN, John Muir Trail, 5-30-2015

In our quest to hike or bike all the trails around the Big South Fork NRRA (BSF Map) Jean and I had the opportunity to visit some obscure destinations. The west side of the Big South Fork and adjacent Pickett State Park were less known to us, primarily because the drive was so much longer from Knoxville. But I’d gotten a chance to see some of that west side in 2001 and 2002 when Steven and I had entered the Pickett Adventure Races put on by Riversports. Both editions of the race had explored west of the State Park out into the surrounding State Forest combining long mountain bike rides with visits to spectacular cliffside overlooks. 

Start of the trail at TN 154.

But some of that mountain biking hadn’t been that much fun. Both years had included a stretch of the John Muir Trail along Rock Creek west of TN 154 in the State Forest. At first glance that route looks like easy, streamside riding. But the trail is an old railroad grade. Usually when a rail line was abandoned the rails and ties are removed for salvage. But in this case, the ties were left in place to rot, leaving tie-shaped divots across the grade. I remembered that many bikers chose to walk their bikes along the flat grade just to avoid the fierce jouncing each time a bike tire dropped into the divots left by the ties.

Beaver Dam on Rock Creek.

Jean and I had planned one earlier trip to the Muir Trail, but had abandoned that trip on a cold day when we reached the first of the many wet crossings of Rock Creek and were hardly out of site of the road. But we expected that a late May trip after rainless month would be warm enough for wet feet, and that hiking, rather than bike hauling, would make for a good second chance trip. We planned to hike from TN 154 west to the end of the trail at Wagon Gap Road. We parked in a new trailhead just south of where Rock Creek crosses TN 154.

We found our first stream crossing to be directly at the bottom of the stairs that led to the creek from the highway. There was a snake basking in the sun by the shin deep crossing. I knew we had dragged bikes through here in the 2001 race, but did not retain much of the detail from that long day. The trail now seemed much rougher, I doubted any riding would be possible. The trail was poorly maintained with lots of blow downs, fallen limbs, and overgrowth in any place where the canopy was thin. Luckily this was mostly dense, old forest. The well-built railroad grade was obvious for the first 5 miles out to Blackhorse Mtn. Road. 

The old railroad grade along Rock Creek.

We saw one pile of metal parts, a piece of sheet metal, and endless ruts from the rotted ties. There were over 30 crossings of Rock Creek. Most were wet crossings, but all were less than shin deep. I fell at one crossing, and hit hard enough to break the top off my water bottle.

BSF had first introduced bears into the park in 1996 and 1997 to study their behavior in advancement of a natural resettlement of the park lands by bears moving in from Kentucky. Of the original 14 females released from the Smokies, most took to the area, especially those “soft” released as mothers with cubs in winter dens. The park lacks a population estimate for the bears, but they’ve become gradually more common in the park. But even with all our exploring in and around the BSF Jean and I had yet to see a bear. But on the Muir Trail there were several bear scratched trees and lots of bear droppings. It seemed the bears used the trail more than the hikers did. 

Damaged bridge along upper Rock Creek.

The upper end of the trail along the main fork of Rock Creek goes through a tighter, narrower canyon, but still is densely forested. It was hard to keep oriented and hard to see the side creeks coming in.

At 2.85 miles I took a waypoint at the first of a pair of beaver dams. This marked the start of a long overgrown section. Thick laurel and holly brought our speed down well below 2 mph. There were three ruined bridges past the beaver dams. Two were tilted sideways from floodwaters, and the third had collapsed with its center section underwater. The last mile of the trail was out of the canyon and very fast walking.

Slot canyon in western end of John Muir Trail.

There were 3 trucks at the Blackhorse Mountain Trailhead parking lot, presumably partaking of ATV use of the forest roads. We’d taken 2.5 hours to cover about 5 miles. We tried to have lunch at the lot, but both Jean and I got our first ticks of the season there. 

Walking in the creek bottom.

The middle of the next section was spectacular, in the creek bottom often with steep rock walls on both sides. It was a close to a slot canyon as I’d seen on the plateau away from Honey Creek. We just walked along the creek bottom seeing another set of boot prints. This section also needed some maintenance. The trail ended at what seemed like a random point along a Wagon Gap Road, but at least there was a sign. 

Jean at Blackhorse Mtn. Road.

We retraced our route back to the TN 154 Trailhead, with Jean perking up when we got through the worst of the blowdowns. We got a few more ticks, and possibly heard a bear huffing as we crossed a creek. 

Sign at the western end at Wagon Gap Road.

Start time was 9AM, and we were back at 4PM after 13.8 miles. We also briefly checked out the Muir Trail to the east of TN 154. It started down a paved road from the trailhead. We ate dinner at Bacaras (near Sharps Place, and now permanently closed). The restaurant was quirky, not accepting credit cards, requiring reservations, and you needed to bring your own liquor. But the food was amazing. I had the pork loin with a sweet potato fritter. Jean and I stayed the night in the Jordan Motel in Jamestown. We hiked the next day in Pickett SP and the BSF checking out the east side of the John Muir Trail, Pouge Creek, plus the Ladder and Natural Bridge Trails in Pickett State Park. 

Map of the west end of the John Muir Trail, 2015.

I am not sure about the current designation of the western end of the John Muir Trail, and it is possible that the trail has been abandoned. As of early 2025 the Muir Trail does not appear on the Forest’s Road Designation Map, but “Temporary usage restrictions on roads and trails in the northwest portion of the forest have been extended until February 1, 2025.” The closure was due to “The extensive damage caused by ATVs and UTVs in the forest”. Remediation of the NW corner of the forest is 60% complete. More than 1,300 hours have been spent, and more than 1,500 tons of rock have been hauled to the forest to make repairs.” See https://www.tn.gov/agriculture/forests/state-forests/pickett.html for more Forest information.

Pickett State Park was damaged by the storm effects of Hurricane Helene in the fall of 2024, and several park hiking trails are still listed as closed as of January 2025. The John Muir Trail as described in this report west of TN 154 is also not shown on the current park map.