James had been working on trails in the in the Rocky Fork area as part of the project to revise the trail guide to the Cherokee National Forest. He was describing trails in both the new Rocky Fork State Park and in the surrounding Cherokee National Forest. I had joined him for one trip to the area in November (Here), but it turned out that there was more hiking left to explore.
James
still needed to describe short section left on the “Highlands Trail” between
its intersection with the Fort Davie Manway on the east and the Rocky Fork
Trail on the west. Luckily I was able to join him to fill in the gap. James had
already hiked the Fort Davie Manway, but that that route would be new to me. In
addition, I hadn’t done the missing section on the Highlands Trail since my 2010
mountain bike ride (Here).
Overlook at Rocky Fork SP.
Several
cars were in the trailhead when we arrived including a ranger vehicle. We saw a
couple of groups hiking near the start, including the ranger. We first headed up
via the well-used White Oak Flats and Headwaters trails.
We
passed a nice overlook of the cliffs on the White Oak Flats Trail, then the
Headwaters Trail moved well above the creek leaving us without any views of the
creek. James believes that there is an old trail (worth exploring) along the
creek below the trail. The CNF trails are not signed or blazed, so it’s a
little tough to find the start of some of them, though there are a few cairns
in place. There is a bridge at a crossing near the Blockstand Creek junction
and one tough rock hop crossing on the upper part of the Headwaters Trail, that
we would wade across on the return leg.
Creek Wade.
James
found a cairn that marks the start of the Fort Davie Manway. Despite the manway being marked on my original Rocky Fork Map I had not spotted
this route at either end on my 2010
mountain bike trip, but James found it to be a relatively open old road on his trip only a few
months ago. One of his other local contacts with extensive Rocky Fork hiking experience
had not been familiar with the route, so it is possible that the manway may
have been reopened recently. There was thick rhodo all through the drainage, so
it’s a case of following the old road or braving a vicious looking bushwhack. James
did some hand clipping, and I did my best to break branches. We saw at least
two spur trails taking off from the manway that I marked with GPS. There were a
few small rock hop crossings as well. The old roadbed was distinct from top to bottom. James had
been told that the last logging here was ~1930s, but with all the old roads,
and the size and evenness of the forest, we guessed much of Rocky Fork had been
logged much earlier, perhaps in the 1960s-70s. The roads were in great shape
and so likely never were exposed to serious ATV or horse traffic.
James along the trail.
After
reaching the Highlands Trail we ate a quick lunch on the crest. The old road
here was in perfect condition, no obstructions, and a soft, often grassy tread.
I saw one old MB tire track, but no vehicle or horse tracks. There were several
nice overlooks to the north into Greenville and the Tennessee Valley.
We
went west on the crest until the junction with the “Upper Headwaters Trail”,
followed that back to the start of Fort Davie Creek, and then we retraced our
route back to the trailhead. Except for the Fort Davie watershed, the area is
open hardwoods, it would be relatively easy to navigate cross country, though
extremely steep. We again saw a few other groups close to the trailhead.
James
told me that here the rocks are the floor of a syncline of Precambrian
quartzite sitting on basement rock. On the return we saw good outcrops, some
with extremely pure quartzite and some with quartz filled extensional
fractures. We were too early for the flowers, we saw early foliage of trout
lily and iris, but only the first few spring beauties and violets had bloomed.
Alongside Rocky Fork Creek.
