The obligatory entrance photo
The Big South Fork National Recreation Area is one of those parks I have passed by in my car going 70 m.p.h. many times. Every time I saw the brown sign pointing to the exit, I wanted to check out the park. I had hiked for an afternoon once in college, but I wanted to stay longer and backpack overnight.
The Big South Fork of the Cumberland River
I finally made the trip a couple of years ago, and I ended up hiking for three days in this beautiful recreation area. It is aptly named as there is just about everything under the sun one can do in the Big South Fork. You can of course backpack as their is hundreds of miles of trails, but there is also horseback riding (180 miles of horse trails), canoeing, kayaking, rock climbing, mountain biking, hunting, and fishing to name a few.
The Big South Fork is located on the Kentucky and Tennessee border, so it is not far from the most visited park in the United States: The Great Smoky Mountains. Because of its proximity to the Smokies, the heavily visited neighbor takes a lot of stress off the Big South Fork. I hiked for three days and saw only a handful of people.
A small cascade through a rhododendron tree
Having hiked many times in the Great Smoky Mountains, it was interesting to check out the similarities and contrasts between these two scenic parks. The Big South Fork is located in the Cumberland Mountains, which is not nearly as majestic as the Smokies, but they are both tree covered older mountains.
Big South Fork hiking trail following rock face
Although the Big South Fork elevation may not be as high, there is a lot of picturesque cliffs and interesting rock formation along the ravine overlooking the river and located throughout the trail system. In the Great Smoky Mountains, you sometimes go miles without much to look at besides the forest. In the Big South Fork there are interesting rock formations all over the place.
Big South Fork rock face overlooking the river
Anyone who has hiked or been in both parks would say the Great Smoky Mountains is the superior destination, but Big South Fork fans would say the place deserves your visit the next time you are driving on I-75 near the Kentucky and Tennessee border. Hope that these pictures inspire you to make a visit next time instead of flying past.
Big South Fork Falls Creek Falls
The main draw in the Big south Fork is the beautiful river and the gorge
Another view of the river gorge looking down river
Big South Fork National Recreation hiking trail
Big South Fork of the Cumberland River
Another view of Falls Creek Falls
A rock formation along the gorge above the river
Stay tuned,
TT
The goal of Traveling Ted is to inspire people to outdoor adventure travel and then provide tips on where and how to go. If you liked this post then enter your email in the box to get email notifications for each new entry. Daily travel photos are excluded from your email in order to not flood you with posts. There is no spam and email information will not be shared. Other e-follow options include Facebook (click on the like box to the right) or twitter (click on the pretty bird on the rainbow above).
I’d definitely stop there! Looks like a beautiful place.
I would advise it Francesca. Very beautiful spot.
This looks like a really mini Grand Canyon except with trees. I would definitely love to spend some time hiking here. Very beautiful!
Jeremy Branham recently posted..Expedia Find Yours travel purpose photos of the week
Jeremy,
It is a poor man’s Great Smoky Mountains and I guess it could be considered a poor man’s Grand Canyon too. Poor men sometimes eat well.
Every Travelingted article is accompanied by jaw-dropping photographs. Have you considered producing calendars for sale? Maybe a series of different themes; people could choose from streams, mountains, critters, lakes — whatever.
Or, some books can be published on demand. Is there such a thing as Calendars on Demand? Carrying that farther: wouldn’t it be a thrill for your fans to have a place on your website where they could choose their dozen favorite Ted photos for a personalized calendar? We could change every year. If it’s practical, many of us would pay a premium for always being able to look up from our desks and see one of your stunning photos.
There must be some way for fans to have the continuing pleasure nearby of a selection of favorite photos. Your highly personalized adventure perspective comes through in your writing as well as your tantalizing photographs. It’s a shame to just have a glimpse before they disappear unless they’re searchable in an archive somewhere. Still, a calendar — now that’s on view for a long time! Time to arrange before holiday giving?
Jay,
Appreciate the continued support and the many compliments. All of my posts are easily accessible by the site map tab at the top of the page. Click on that and you can scroll down and easily click on any one of my 380 posts. You can also click on any of the tabs on the right and find an archive to the posts in that subject.
I would love to do a calendar. That would be a great idea. I wonder how easy it would be to self publish something like that. I think I need to get a little bigger in order to secure a publisher to do it.
It looks very pretty and just being away from the crowds is worth something.
Leigh recently posted..A Hike to the Plain of Six Glaciers & Lake Louise Tea House
It was funny Leigh, I met a guy swimming with his kids, and he got a little mad at me when I said I was a blogger. He said “don’t write about this place.” He wanted to keep it to himself. He was sort of kidding and serious at the same time.
Looks like another terrific place that Ted is gonna take me one day!! LOL
And you will pay me back when I come visit Malaysia