Big South Fork

Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area preserves the Big South Fork of the Cumberland River and its tributaries in northeastern Tennessee and southeastern Kentucky. It's an area that was home to many logging and mining areas in the past. This region has the highest concentration of natural bridges in the eastern US. The cliffs, bluffs, and gorges here are spectacular.

We're staying at the park campground in a wonderful, quiet site, the changing trees all around us.

Our first foray here was actually to Pogue Creek Canyon Natural Area and Pickett State Park, which are adjacent to the National Recreation Area. That morning it rained pretty hard, and as we left, the sky was mostly gray and threatening more rain. That also meant that trails would be covered in wet leaves over slippery rocks and mud. We knew that we had to take care. 

On the way to the trailhead, we spotted a large bird on the highway ahead. Apparently, one of a flock of chickens penned near the road had escaped. Ah, Tennessee! As we pulled into the trailhead parking area, ours was the only car in the small lot, so we had the place to ourselves.

We started out wearing jackets, but were able to shed them as the morning progressed. Our first hike took us past wonderful sandstone walls overgrown with moss and trees, to a spot overlooking Pogue Creek Canyon.  The view was OK, but the massive rock walls along the way were the highlight.

Then we headed to Pickett State Park just up the road.  We  appeared  to be the only visitors to the park as there were no other cars anywhere to be seen, and the park office was closed. We stopped for a quick lunch of yogurt and apples and dined under a pavilion. I remarked to Ray that  someone had carelessly dropped litter all over the far side of a pond we were facing. There were what appeared to white papers on trees and bushes and floating in the pond. Later we discovered that the "white papers" were actually fallen. paw paw leaves. They are about a foot long and appear white on the back side. They DO look like litter!

As we approached the trailhead, we were greeted by a large pile of bear scat in the middle of the trail, something repeated a couple of times further on down the trail as well. Fortunately, we never got to meet the animal who deposited it! Our hike took us through the autumn woods past a natural bridge and a cave. This trail was on top of or beside many huge rock walls with fascinating erosion. The large

cave was carved into one of those rock formations. Very cool. That rain that threatened actually made good on its promise and came just as we were completing the last quarter mile of the hike. It poured! Fortunately, we had brought umbrellas. 

What a great day!

Since our campground doesn't have sewer connections and we'll be here for 4 nights, we decided to use the campground shower facilities so our gray water tank doesn't fill. That would necessitate unhooking and a trip to the dump station. Showers were actually quite clean and spacious.

Photos of the day are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/txmWVkwvZqJ9Wrtr9