Smokies, Cow Flats, Off-trail, 12-9-25

Ed invited us on this hike he was leading for the Retired Citizens. We had a group of 10. Jean and I were potentially the youngsters of the group, and we may have had two 80-year-olds. The weather was clear and temps started around freezing and would warm up to mid-40s.

Ed planned to do a loop in the same area as last fall’s Woolly Tops-Little Laurel hike, but swapping the tough upper Woolly Tops and Little Laurel segments for the easy way up the Cow Flats manway. Most of the route is manway on the 1931 map, except for a short trailless segment in a saddle on the west side of Bald Top Ridge. The Cow Flats section received “elf maintenance.” I took a GPS track and pictures, plus tracked most of the hike in Maprika.

Chimney at the Huff Place.

We made a short shuttle from the parking spaces at Plemons Cemetery. We started downstream on a manway on the south bank of the creek. In a quarter mile we turned hard left onto another manway and climbed up the nose of Bald Top Ridge. With much help from the elves’ work, we swung around the nose of Bald Top into Cow Flats, where there weren’t any cows and it wasn’t flat. There was an old homesite just above where we joined an unnamed creek. This was home to a branch of the Whaley family (Ed had details on the residents of all the home sites we would visit.) There was another Lindsey homesite not far above. Both had collapsed chimney piles and small amounts of household artifacts. Above the second homesite the manway turned left and east to head up a side branch to another homesite that we did not visit.

The elf work filled in the gap between manways, and we wove our way up the stream bed and through the rhodo straight into the sun to reach a small saddle in a spur of Bald Top Ridge. It was warming up into the “comfortable” range, and we debated the saddle as a lunch spot, but decided to move on. The descent was essentially a rhodo tunnel, impenetrable without elf maintenance. Don’t try to cross the pass if you can’t find the tunnel! I took waypoints where the tunnel crossed the creek and where the tunnel emerged into the open forest of the flats at the lower end of Woolly Tops Branch. It was a dry, sunny spot so we stopped there for a brief lunch. Because the mouth of the rhodo tunnel would be tough to find from the Woolly Tops side, navigating this loop would be much easier going clockwise.

Jean at the Bohannon Place.

Next was the double chimney of the old Huff (Andy opened the Mountain View Hotel and Jack Huff operated Mt LeConte Lodge for 35 years) place. Again, there was a modest collection of domestic artifacts. I’d been here in November 2024 with Ed and Mike scouting a route from Woolly Tops Branch into Little Laurel Creek. This time we stayed closer to Woolly Tops Branch and followed an old road down to False Gap Prong. There is a final home site (Bohannon) near the junction.

Grave of a Revolutionary War Soldier.

The route from the Huff homesite back to the road is practically a maintained trail. We cruised past one side road leading to a bridge abutment by the river, and enjoyed the impressively large rock stacked walls, still neat and square despite nearly a hundred years of neglect. The last section descended close to Porters Creek offering views of this wildly tumbling creek and its giant rocks. We stopped to visit Plemons Cemetery with graves old enough to hold Revolutionary War veterans. Ed also showed pictures and told stories about the church, school (look for the concrete footers), and hotel that were once located in the precious flat land at the confluence of Porters Creek and False Gap Prong.

View up Porters Creek.

My GPS recorded 3.8 miles and 1,080’ feet of climbing making Cow Flats a relatively easy off-trail hike, but one filled with interesting features and beautiful scenery.

Smokies, Wear Valley FHP Corridor Exploration, 11-23-25

The idea for this hike came from Ed’s Metcalf Bottoms to Gatlinburg multimodal hike on October 18. At the trail junction at Little Brier Gap. I noticed an established foot trail leading north down into Wear Valley. Ed, of course, had already hiked it, coming in from Katy Hollar Road to the north. He suggested that we could make an off trail hike all the way from the east end of the current Foothills Parkway in Wear Valley to Little Brier Gap.

Welcome to the Foothills Parkway.

Ed has long been a champion of the idea to convert the unfinished sections of the Foothills Parkway to foot trails and greenways to benefit those who live around the park, rather than wasting tens of millions of dollars on completing Parkway segments for the benefit of a few visitors, most of whom are motorcyclists. Jean and I have joined Ed on several hikes to explore the so far undeveloped sections of the Parkway corridor. (SMHC FHP Hike)

The most recent parts of the Parkway to open were sections 8E and 8F from US 321 in Walland east to Wear Valley. Construction was completed on November 8, 2018 and the road opened on November 10, 2018, This opening included the 1.8 mile "Missing Link," a long-term obstacle to completion of the road. The 9.5 miles on the west side of the link had been built much earlier. The dead-end road was closed to vehicles. but open to hikers and cyclists. Because of this “in limbo” status, the 9.5 miles was called the “closed section” by the hikers and bikers using the road for recreation, to distinguish it from the FHP between Walland to Chilhowee Lake to the west that was “open” to vehicles.  Sections 8E and 8F total 16.1 miles and are contiguous with sections 8H and 8G which extend 16.9 miles from US 321 west past the Look Rock Tower to U.S. 129 along the Chilhowee Lake impoundment of the Little Tennessee River.

Following the opening of sections 8E and 8F in 2018, the road builders looked to construct section 8D, the next 9.8 miles from Wear Valley east to US 441 at Gatlinburg. The first step in this process was to develop plans for a right of way connecting the FHP to the main body of the Park near Little Brier Gap. Amazingly, this plan would include development of mountain bike trails in the connection. An environmental assessment was released in October 2020 and decision reached in May 2022. The final plan calls for 11.8 miles of mountain biking trails, 2.3 miles of foot trail, and a mile of road which would become part of the FHP. However, no funding has been released for the project, nor has any work yet been done on the trail system. Since the plan has been released, privately built (both free and commercial) mountain biking trails have opened nearby at Townsend (Vee Hollow), Pigeon Forge (Wildside (Here)), and Gatlinburg (Ober Gatlinburg) taking some of the pressure the need for bike trails in Wears Valley. With little chance of any bike trails being built soon, it seemed a good time to explore the area on foot.

The current plan for the Foothills Parkway bike trails.

For the hike, Jean and I parked at the two-car pullout at Foothills Parkway entry sign, just north of junction of the FHP and US 321 in Wear Valley. It took 21 minutes to drive from the east junction of FHP & US 321 via Townsend. There was thick fog in spots. For the hike I used my Garmin to record a track and Maprika on my phone. Ed used Google Maps, which shows the FHP boundary well, and his Garmin. I took a few pictures with my phone.

To start, we walked back on road to south limit of Parkway ramp and then headed south along the wide graded grassy strip engineered to someday host the Parkway. At the north bank of Cove Creek, we went straight ahead to easy crossing (WP1) by dead tree. We emerged into open grassy field soaking wet with dew. When I first looked at the area with Google maps, I was surprised to find most of it is hay fields. It turns out the fields are covered by a special use permit that allows haying.

Ed would do most of leading, he headed straight for end of nearest tree covered ridge. At WP2 we crossed a faint farm road, but it turned out there were several of these, and they are likely to change from year to year. We followed the long narrow ridge south through very pretty and open forest with especially large trees. This was likely pe-park era forest, there may once have been a road as there was a rough lines of trees on each side. Most of the biggest trees were white oaks, estimated by Ed to be in the range of 80 years old. Some old, barbed wire remained. We passed one wildlife camera with an antenna that did not have any NPS markings.

At WP 3 we joined an old road on ridgetop which shows as double dash on USGS topo. We followed road southeast to WP 4 where it split. I took the left and downhill fork, which was not the correct way. The left and downhill fork was not on the map, After a small sinkhole, the left downhill fork turned right and uphill to rejoin the original road near the west boundary of the property. The right fork was correct, and it forked again just out of sight of the first split (we would not figure that out until the return leg). Across the property line was BridgeMont Camp (ID’d from Goggle maps) with a pool, tennis court(?), and some areas blown clear of leaves. We did not see the road shown on the USGS map heading to the east. We climbed up on the ridge to stay in the ROW.

Cove Spring Hollow at Katy Hollar Road.

We hit paved Katy Hollar Road at WP5. To the right only 100’ away is a pullout at the base of Cove Spring Hollow. An old road was blocked off with large rocks, and possibly was an old homesite according to Ed. I took a picture at the start of the road and later took two of Jean and Ed climbing. The road was in good shape up to an informal campsite with a fire pit and rock table at the first creek crossing. Above the campsite the road turned to trail, and we stayed to the right bank for better footing until the trail turned sharply right and began to climb steeply. The climb felt like old CCC-built trail up to Little Brier Gap. I had 2.6 miles at the gap, 0.3 mile of that was on the FHP at the start.

Jean and Ed climbing to Little Brier Gap

We had an early lunch at Little Brier Gap and saw our only hikers of the day. We decided to explore a bit on the way back rather than head down to the Walker Sisters Cabin after lunch. We crossed Katy Hollar and skirted BridgeMont Camp. We weren’t exactly on our outbound route and Ed found a small pit he thought was an old cellar from a homesite. Beyond the camp we stayed on the double dash road and came to WP 4 without repeating my detour from our inbound route. Here we could see the main road and the newer one shown in magenta on the map. There was a building foundation and several buckets, pieces of roofing, and a cylinder that might have been a flue.

Some of the roads shown on the USGS topo were still in place including the main “double dash” road we had used coming in, and the foot trail up Cove Spring Hollow. Cove Spring Hollow looks like a CCC trail and is on the 1949 map and absent from the 1931 map. The layout of the farm roads on the property differs from even the current map as some older roads have been essentially obliterated by haying. The Katy Hollar and Robeson roads that ring the property are shown on both the 1931 and 1949 park maps.

We followed the “double dash” road until it ended at a field at WP7. We decided to follow the now drier meadows back and walked along the right edge of a field with a paved road farther to our right and east. The buildings here are right up against the ROW boundary, but we did not see any signs or fences. There was a road and ditch between us and the modern Mattox Cemetery, so we skipped Mattox and cut directly over to the ford of Cove Creek that we used inbound. We crossed and walked the stub of the FHP grade and then the Parkway for 0.3 mile to get back to the cars at about 1:15. My Garmin had 5.25 miles and Maprika had 5.4 miles and 900’ of climbing.

It took 24:30 to drive back to the junction of the FHP and US 321 in Walland via the FHP, making the Parkway only 3:30 minutes slower vs. the route through Townsend. Though the leaves are down, there was steady traffic on the FHP. We had road noise from hot rods and motorcycles all morning.

Firewater 50K Race, 10-25-25

The last two falls I’ve run the KTC’s 25K trail race at Norris. Both years I’d battled with plantar fasciitis and its aftereffects and wasn’t able to do the work needed for an ultramarathon distance. But this year was different, I’ve been healthy and active and was able to prepare enough that a full 31 miles of running was a reasonable goal.

East Lakeshore Trail Map.

As much as I enjoy the Norris Race, it’s tempting to drop down to the 25K distance. So, I looked at the fall schedule and one other race jumped out. It was local, the week before Norris, and the same Saturday Jean had her MBA teaching. Kathy and Tony’s Firewater 50K follows the East Lakeshore Trail through TVA property along Tellico Lake offering a point-to-point course for the 50K. It seemed like a perfect fit. I’d heard good things about the race from other runners (well organized, pretty trails, good surface, and few hills) and it was only an hour away.

Jean and I on the Coytee Segment in 2009.

Jean and I hiked two sections (Coytee and Glendale) of the trail while it was being built in the late 2000s/early 2010s on club trips. But I remembered little from those hikes except for the cushy lakeshore trail. Our 2009 trip with the Smoky Mountain Hiking Club covered the Glendale section and Coytee Loop. Our 2011 trip with the Sierra Club was a shuttle hike on the Sinking Creek and Glendale sections.

At the start/finish. Photo from Firewater Facebook page.

My summer and fall training went well. I did my usual greenway 8-milers along with shorter runs, mountain bike rides, and of course lots of hiking. I paid particular attention to my long trail runs, knowing these were my most important runs, and the best predictors of my race results. I ran a lot at Norris, both on the KTC 25K loop and on my Barkley hill training loop. I ran a lot in the Smokies on the loops from the Townsend Wye and from Tremont to Elkmont. I also ran the Armes Gap Jeep Road at Frozen Head as I would again be sweeping the Barkley Fall Classic, which requires some much more hill climb training. I even restarted my plantar era stretching and exercise routine.

Those long runs went well, I had three runs over 20 miles, four runs at around 6 hours, and 19 miles of tough terrain at the BFC. I felt ready but realized that my best training runs (Armes Gap 4X and the North Boundary Greenway) had been on gravel, much easier than I’d have on trail. Here’s my buildup of training runs.

Firewater Training List, Long Runs:

7-4-25	FHSP	Armes Gap Repeats	10.8 mi.	2400’	3:05
7-10-25	Sharps Ridge	Lin-Indy-Sharp	10.3	1000’	3:08
7-15-25	Norris	Hills Loop 7X	10.5	3500’	3:45
7-20-25	Smokies	Lumber-Meigs	11.8	1700’	3:44
7-25-25	FHSP	Armes Gap Plus	12.2	2800’	3:30
7-29-25	Norris	Hills Loop 8X	12.0	3600’	4:13
8-2-25	Smokies	West Prong	12.3	2050’	3:22
8-7-25	FHSP	Armes Gap Repeats	16.2	3600’	4:25
8-11-25	Norris	25K Loop	15.6	2000’	4:30
8-16-25	Smokies	Lumber-Meigs	16.0	2800’	5:21
8-25-25	Smokies	West Prong	17.3	2150’	4:48
8-29-25	Norris	Hills Loop 12X	18.0	6000’	5:56
9-4-25	FHSP	Armes Gap Repeats	21.6	4800	6:08
9-13-25	Smokies	West Prong	17.3	2150’	4:48
9-20-25	FHSP	BFC Sweep	18.9	6300’	X.XX
9-28-25	Smokies	West Prong	12.3	2050’	3:18
10-4-25	Norris	25K + Songbird	17.9	2000’	5:09
10-9-25	Smokies	Lumber-Meigs	20.0	3300’	6:04
10-14-25	North Boundary	Greenway	22.2	1700’	5:59

 

Race day started at 8AM at Wildcat Pointe with the 100k runners, who would run out to the Canal Trailhead and back to Wildcat. The rest of us got on a nice warm school bus for a ride to Canal Trailhead, which was the 50K start. Along the way we stopped at Sinking Creek Trailhead to drop off the relay runners and the ruckers.

I sat on the bus with Cody, who would be running only his second ultra. His first was the super tough Quest for the Crest, which he swore never to run again. He lived in Greenback, so he ran and hiked a lot of East Lakeshore. Later, when I first looked at the race results, I thought he’d won, but he turned out to have finished second, to another runner also named Cody.

At Canal TH Kathy gave us a quick pep talk and then off we went. I tracked the course with my GPS, but did not carry my phone. I started in shorts, a light Smartwool long sleeve wicker, and gloves liners. It was barely comfortable with temps in the low 40s. The sky was overcast and dry most of the day, so we had good footing with few leafy or rocky sections.

I started out a bit too far to the front and got passed a lot as the field sorted itself out. There are mile posts on the course, so right away I could tell I was running too fast. My plan was to try and go under 9 hours which would mean 17–18-minute miles, but we were running 12–13-minute miles. But what the hell, it felt pretty darn good. The north end of the course is flat with wide trail, and few obstacles. The course would trace the east shoreline of the lake, except for a few short excursions inland. We saw lots of other hikers, including a group from the East Tennessee Hikers.

I ran a bit with an Alabama runner who claimed to not have run over 10 miles before! I ran the first 8 miles to Antioch at 12–13-minute pace, which is normally what I run on the paved greenway at home. Aid station food was good, there was the usual assortment of snack foods, while some stations had treats like Gus, potato wedges, or bacon. Drinks were water or Tailwind.

By Antioch we were sorted out and calmed down. We began our first excursion running through a golf course and associated community. It was fun to run in the open with the longer views. I was able to follow other runners and save energy rather than trying to stay on course.

Steve Barber was at the Glendale Trailhead. The next section was a little more complex. We skipped the Glendale Shortcut and added the Coytee Loop. The mile markers did not include the Coytee Loop, so keeping track of my pace required some extra math. I was still moving well, now doing 14–15-minute miles, slower than my start, but still ahead of plan. This left me 20-30 minutes ahead of my 9-hour target. I began to scheme for a little better time, despite knowing that I’d pay a price for my fast early pace. So far, the hills had been mild, and everything could have been easily run. The first 100K runner we saw was female and looked super strong.

Coming off the Coytee Loop was a long section without markers. I stopped momentarily and was caught by a woman with the same question. We were soon met by the second and third place 100K runners, who confirmed that we were on course. John Storey and Rebecca were at the Coytee Aid Station, and we chatted briefly before I headed off over the long bridge that was still incomplete at the time of my 2011 visit.

2011 Bridge construction.

I was still moving well (14–15-minute miles) and making up time through the Sinking Creek Aid Station at 17 miles. This is considered the “halfway’ point of the course, since the southern end is more difficult that the northern end. Based on the mile markers, my time at the true halfway point was 3:34, better than my last two finishes at the Norris Dam 25K races. I think this was in this section that we ran by several luxurious lakeside homes with boat docks as we were just across the lake from Tellico Village. After that development was one of the longer climbs of the course, though still with only a few 100 feet of climbing. 

Long abandoned car along the trail in 2011.

Before Lotterdale Aid Station there was a long roadside section where I caught up with my first fading runner. He, like the other handful I passed, was cramping and reduced to walking. I was still running OK through Lotterdale but had slowed to 17–18-minute pace, and occasionally 20-minute pace over the last 10 miles. Mark McPhail was also at an aid station. There were a couple more hills, but just enough to give me an excuse for walking breaks. I reached the last aid station at Peterson at 7 hours.

There was a long section in the highway right-of-way after Peterson, I wouldn’t bother to hike this section unless you were determined to hike the entire East Lakeshore Trail. Near the end a woman came walking up the road and complained that she thought the course was long. I didn’t realize that she was in the race, and that she had turned the wrong way after finishing the spur, until she was well beyond me. Kathy later told me that at least two people had made wrong turns coming off the spur.

There was one last hill before the spur. The mile long spur gave us our only chance to see the runners ahead and behind us. I first saw a group of 5, and then three others that I’d run with earlier in the race. At the turnaround I grabbed a wristband from the pumpkin to prove I’d been to the bitter end, then dashed for home at ~20-minute pace. I only had 8 minutes on the next guy behind me, enough for him to make up if I didn’t push it in. The next 3-4 runners were mostly those whom I passed when they were fading. Once back on the main trail, it was a short, steep pitch back to the start at Wildcat Point.

After thanking Kathy and Tony I proudly collected my finisher’s whiskey flask and sat down for chili, coke, and snacks. The race could not have gone better for me. I had no plantar fasciitis symptoms and no knee troubles. My back that had been wonky all week felt fine. I had no blisters, chafing, or cramping. The footing had been great, so I had no stumbles, and I’d not gone off course. I’d been lucky with my food and hydration, eating the minimum to keep myself fueled and drinking enough to stay hydrated in warm dry weather. I was stiff and sore the next day but had no long-term effects. Best of all, I was 30 minutes under my goal time, and never really paid the price for going out faster than I’d planned.

Finish photo from Firewater Facebook page.

Smokies Hiking, Metcalf Bottoms to Gatlinburg via Trail, Lift, and Tram, 10-18-25

One of the great things about hiking with the SMHC is that its members often come up with new hike ideas. Ed’s plan was to introduce us to novel ways of getting around Gatlinburg, and to visit some of the tourist accessible overlooks in the city. Our plan was to start at the US 321 Park and Ride where we took a Rec Center bus that Ed had charted to Metcalf Bottoms Picnic Area. We all split the $60- shuttle fee. Then we hiked the Metcalf Bottoms, Little Brier Gap, Little Greenbrier, Laurel Falls, and Cove Mountain trails through the park. We split off Cove Mountain on an old service road to reach to the top of the Ober Gatlinburg Ski Lift, and rode the lift down to the base lodge. From the lodge, we took the Tram, down to Gatlinburg, then walked to the Trolley Transfer Station near the Ripley’s Aquarium. Then we caught the Yellow Line bus back to the 321 Park and Ride. Whew! 

Little Brier Gap.

We left home at 7AM and got to the P&R at 8:15. Patt Watts, Randy Mitchell, and Lynn Kzsos were there. I rode with Jay Smelser, former neighbor who was on his first club hike, attracted by Ed’s exotic route. Coincidentally we started hiking on the same section of trail that Ed and I had used for our last hike together on Rocky Ridge (Rockless Ridge). Ed pointed out that an obvious manway at Little Brier Gap headed north into the Foothills Parkway right of way and extended all the way to the current end of the Parkway at US 321. Little Greenbrier Trail is CCC-built with a narrow tread carefully hand dug into the side of the mountain on a perfect grade. I was surprised to note numerous rock outcrops on the Little Greenbrier Trail, and that the walk along Chinquapin Ridge was through open forest. I’m still not sure why Rocky Ridge had so little rock outcrop, and so much low tangly vegetation. The trees were just starting to turn color, and the acorns were beginning to fall.

Jean at the Cove Mountain Junction.

We had lunch at the start of the short spur to the Cove Mountain Fire tower, now converted into a NPS weather station. Jay and I were the only ones to take the short walk to the tower. Jean and I had not hiked on Cove Mountain Trail since the 1990s, and I wasn’t going to take the chance that we could wait another 30 years to visit the tower, even if it sat behind a chain link fence. 

Jay at the Cove Mountain Weather Station.

The tower marked the end of the climbing, while the Cove Mountain Trail followed what had to be the old jeep access road for the tower. From Cove Mountain to our cutoff at Mount Harrison there was a bulldozed dirt road parallel to the park boundary on the private land side that we could often see. I way pointed one spur plus the split off the trail to the ski lift. We passed Phils View, which served as the top of a viewless off trail loop Jean and I had done in 2013. The split took us over the top of Mt. Harrison, my first time on this peak. Here we saw some good fall colors, reds from the sourwood and maple and various yellows and light greens from other early turners. Our group was moving well. 

Hikers on Cove Mountain Trail.

Ober Gatlinburg installed a large viewing deck at the top of the lift, and we took full advantage of that for photography. Mt. LeConte was especially outstanding, and we were grateful that it held all the rain clouds. There is an epic zip line paralleling the ski lift, with understandable screaming from the zip liners. Through one of his many connections Ed had arranged for us to ride down the ski lift. Jean and I rode down with David. The slow half mile ride had great views, but was high enough off the ground to bother those with even a mild fear of heights.

View of zip lines from top of the ski lift.

At the bottom of the lift we could see smaller lift to our right which Jay said was used for lift served mountain biking at Ober. Ahead was the huge main lodge where we waited in line for the tram that would take us to town. The lodge was crowded and the skids not so well greased for our ride, but soon things worked out. The tram was barely above treetops, and the edges of the 2016 Gatlinburg fires were still easy to spot. I was surprised that there was still so much undeveloped land around Gatlinburg. Maybe the flat and moderate slopes are settled, and only the steepest areas remain unbuilt. 

View looking back up the ski lift.

From the base of the tram, we found our trolley stop. Quick recalculations indicated that we could walk the half (actually 0.9) mile to the transfer station at the Aquarium faster than if we waited for the trolley. It was now in the 80s without shade and the crowds of midseason Gatlinburg were tedious for those of us used to having the woods to ourselves. Ed had listed the hike at 9.5 miles, I bumped it up to 10.5 to cover our midtown walk. We noticed two other ski lifts rising out of town.

We waited for the Yellow Trolley with a crowded group at the Aquarium. Finally, we all squeezed into one of the smaller buses and held in place. There was little to no airflow in the bus, but once underway, and past the turn out toward Pigeon Forge, we made good time. Back at the Park and Ride we exploded for the cars, worried about traffic heading for I-40. But, Jean and I made it home in 75 minutes, the same time we’d expect under normal conditions going home through Pitman Center, and certainly easily enough to retain the warm glow of wonderful and unusual hike.

Pickett and Big South Fork Trips, 9-29-25

Jean and I decided to celebrate the start of fall by taking a three-day trip over to the Pickett side of the Big South Fork. It had been almost a decade since we’d day hiked there, and we thought this a great chance to revisit some of our favorite hikes. We planned to stay two nights at the Jordan Motel in Jamestown, which had been our basecamp for exploring so much of the west side of the Big South Fork back when we were completing our map of all the trails in the BSF region (BSF Map).

We had minor driving issues on the way up. The TDOT Smartway map showed that construction (widening to four lanes) on US 127 had that road closed near Crossville. TDOT also showed that TN 154 was closed just north of the crossing of the John Muir Trail and Rock Creek north of the Pickett State Park Visitors Center. I called the park and they told me that TN 154 was open, but just not approved for semis because of a tight turn. They were unsure of any closure on US 127. We drove out via Oneida and discovered that TN 154 was open. We drove back home via US 127 without any closures. Don’t believe everything you see online!

9-29-25, Buffalo Arch, Daniel Boone National Forest, 2 miles

Buffalo Arch was our first pick for destinations on this trip. We had a fun, snowy hike here at Thanksgiving in 2013, but more importantly we had gotten memorable photos of the arch dusted with a light coat of snow.

Buffalo Arch in November 2013.

The arch hasn’t become overused since then. We went chugging by the unmarked trailhead for more than a mile, before turning back and spotting the small post that marked the trailhead. Since our previous visit, the Parkers Mountain Trailhead was moved back to the road, with only the small post and a gate to mark it. Old DBNF Road 6305 was invisible in the brush. Though the start of Parkers Mountain followed the old road the combination of neglect, a lack of blazes, and a full summer’s growth made the path hard to find. Despite the lack of current blazes, we did see some old yellow paint blazes. At the junction with the spur to Buffalo Arch, Parkers Mountain goes left on single track while Buffalo Arch turned right to stay on the old roadbed.

Can you spot the trail markers here?

Luckily, it is only a mile to the arch, and the walk is well worth it. Buffalo Arch anchors the end of a small ridge with a long sturdy leg looking like a giant buttress. It is one of the largest arches in the area with dimensions well into the tens of feet. We would have the harsh light of midday in midsummer for almost all of this trip. But with some careful framing, and eyes for unshadowed features, we were able to come away with some decent photos.

Jean at Buffalo Arch, KY.

The sandy bottom of the arch is a wonderful spot for picnic lunches, as quiet and isolated as it gets in the BSF region. This isolation likely keeps it special. Despite all the Pickett and Big South Fork property around it, Buffalo Arch is on the Daniel Boone National Forest, and occupies one of the remotest corners of that forest.

Hiram at Buffalo Arch.

9-29-25, Middle Creek Loop, Big South Fork NRRA, 3.5 miles

Rock house on Middle Creek Trail, Big South Fork NRRA.

After finishing our Buffalo Arch hike, we still had most of the afternoon ahead of us. We decided to walk the Middle Creek Loop at BSF, another worthy, but shorter, high impact hike. This time we found other hikers out from the trailhead, and even some e-bikers planning to ride the gravel of BSF’s roads.

Jean at Middle Creek rock house.

Middle Creek hiked counterclockwise makes a short approach, then follows a bluff line for most of its length. This treats hikers to a series of 4-5 huge rockhouses and cliff faces that in a more advertised park would bear intriguing names. The northern return leg was less interesting, but got us through another storm damaged area.

Unnamed rock house Middle Creek.

9-29-25, Hazzard Cave, Pickett State Park, 0.5 mile

We made one final stop of the day at Pickett to check on conditions at Hidden Passage for our next day’s hike. We were lucky to find Michael Hodge, formerly of Frozen Head, to help us out. The park’s power was out, giving us an excuse to hang out and get caught up on news and gossip. A few Pickett trails were still closed by storm damage, and one due to beaver activity, but luckily Hidden Passage was open.

Jean at Hazzard Cave, Pickett SP.

Next, we took the short topside route into Hazzard Cave, which we shared with another solo hiker. The Cave is another of the giant rockhouses that we’d seen so many of at Middle Creek, this one perhaps a bit larger and more elegant than its wild neighbors. 

Hiram at Hazzard Cave.

9-30-25, Hidden Passage Loop, Pickett State Park & Pickett State Forest, 8 miles

Small arch on Hidden Passage Trail.

Hidden Passage is a classic BSF loop, but we had not hiked it together since 1999, and I had never GPS’d the whole route. Since that time the trailhead was moved to a dedicated spot just north on TN 154. We started with another family, but did not see them up the trail. First up there is an intersection on the right with the old feeder trail for the loop. The start of the loop portion was well signed, and the forest had been clear and open, so we expected good progress along the loop.

The Hidden Passage.

We soon reached the Hidden Passage, which was a circuitous route through some breakdown at the back of a huge rock house. Beyond the passage, the cliff bands kept coming and we hiked slowly to appreciate them and look for rare photo ops, Crystal Falls and its modest flow was on a short side trip, but far too shadowy for good pictures.

After climbing out of the gorge, we crossed one old road spanning the rim, then the utility line that follows Pickett Park/Pickett Forest boundary.

Jean at rock house on Hidden Passage Trail.

From there the trail kept close to the rim, with some leafy vistas across the canyon. The spur trail to Double Falls was well marked, but we felt the dry days of early fall were not prime time for a 1.5 mile roundtrip detour. Besides, just beyond is Thompson Overlook and its much cleaner views of the canyon, one of the few places where the rock walls on the far side can be seen. We took advantage of the small trees for a shady lunch stop. 

Thompson Overlook in 2016.

We’d made several trips to other trails near the Overlook as we labored to finish our BSF hiking map in 2016. We’d left one segment undone by confusion over the removal of the “Drop Off Trail” from the park maps. The necessity of another trip reinforced the lesson of “always follow the map”. The remains of the Drop Off Trail appeared to be at the north end of relatively new dozer road. The road turned south, and away from, a section I’d mapped in 2001 as part of the Pickett Adventure Race. I’m not sure if the race map used an older version of the HPT here, or if my race mapping was wrong.

But the old road provided a clear path and easy walking. We spotted the remains of what looked like an old stove, though why it would be miles from anywhere we could not figure.

Old Stove along Hidden Passage Trail.

The road ended at a poorly marked intersection with the utility line cut. We guessed  the trail went right and found it on the far side of the cut. Next was the junction with the old dirt road leading from Pickett Group Camp to Thompson Overlook. The group camp was close by, we were surprised by how large it was (it holds up to 144 people!) and how many buildings there were (six bunkhouses, two bathhouses, and a dining hall with a completely equipped kitchen).

Mushrooms along Hidden Passage Trail.

At the far end of the campground the trail returned to the woods, closed the loop section, and returned to the trailhead.

The Jordan Motel in Jamestown, TN.

10-1-25, Pouge Creek Canyon State Natural Area, 6.2 miles

For our last day we visited Pouge Creek and the newest trails in the area. We did an out and back hike from the trailhead on TN 154 on the Overlook and Upper Canyon trails out to the Mesa Top Overlook. The trail starts by the park astronomy field, and a huge solar powered electric vehicle charging station.

Turkey Roost rock house.

The Overlook Trail starts you out with Turkey Roost Rockhouse, then winds through the woods to the start of a short loop section. At 0.8 mile is the overlook and the start of the Upper Canyon Trail. The overlook is a bit brushy, but you can see some of the high sandstone walls in the upper end of Pouge Creek Canyon.

Pouge Creek Overlook.

The main action is on the Upper Canyon Trail. A long wooden ladder drops you below the bluff line and you wind around the base of cliffs below the overlook. Since our last visit in 2016 there is a new 0.1-mile side trail to Circle Bar Arch, which is a small double arch through a buttress located just above the main trail. We had another bright blue sky morning, great for site seeing, but too bright again for our cameras to handle the contrast between bright sunlight and shadows. 

Circle Bar Arch.

Crossing the main stem of the canyon, we could see the remains of numerous fallen trees that we assumed were the result of damage from a May 26, 2024 storm. The canyon bottom was brushy as weeds and underbrush raced to claim the light now reaching the forest floor. But once out of the canyon bottom we left the overgrowth behind us.

Shallow rock house, Pouge Creek.

As we approached the cliff bands hosting Killdeer Arch, we saw signs for an access trail entering on our right from Black House Mtn. Road. This trail is not on the park map, but was also in place back in 2016.

Rock Wall, Pouge Creek.

Killdeer Arch is spectacular. You approach it at the end of a long line of towering rock houses. The floor below the arch area is dry, sandy, and shaded.

Killdeer Arch, Pouge Creek.

On the cliff side there are also a pair of small “leg” type arches inside the main arch.

Small arches at the base of Killdeer Arch.

Just below the final climb to Mesa Top we could see a flagged route extending out along the bluff line. This route had also been in place on our previous trip, and hopefully someday will become the next new trail at Pouge Creek. From there it was another ladder climb, then short walk out to Mesa Top Overlook. Here we could see the numerous bare cliffs that show off the gorge so nicely. Two homes are visible on the north rim, a reminder of how lucky we are that the rest of Pouge Creek is available to the public.

The 3,000-acre Pogue Creek Canyon State Natural Area borders Pickett State Forest and is adjacent to Pickett CCC Memorial State Park. The Tennessee Chapter of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) acquired Pogue Creek Canyon in 2005 to protect it from development, and then sold the tract to the State in 2006 as a state natural area. Public access is limited to foot traffic during the daytime. Pogue Creek is botanically significant, home to more than 300 plant species. Because of its unusual sandstone formations, the area also hosts rare plant varieties, such as Cumberland sandwort and Lucy Braun's white snakeroot. In 2022, The Nature Conservancy and partners gathered to celebrate the delisting of the Cumberland Sandwort from the federal Endangered Species Act after many years of recovery efforts.

At the Overlook we met a pair of workers from Pickett State Park who were installing a special pair of viewers. The viewers are designed to help those with color blindness experience a full range of color, including the full spectrum of fall colors.

Viewers at Mesa Top Overlook, Pouge Creek.