Backpacking in Savage Gulf

Aaron loves to backpack. He keeps telling us that he has a goal of hiking the entire Appalachian trail one day. For Christmas this past year, I got him a backpack and told him that we would go backpacking this Spring. As a celebration of completing his first year of High School, I took him and a couple of his friends on a short overnight backpacking adventure to Savage Gulf.

Savage Gulf State Natural Area is located on the western edge of the Cumberland Plateau, and is made up of three main river gorges, locally known as "Gulfs."

Our plan was to hike the Big Creek section of Savage Gulf and camp at the Alum Gap campground. We would hike out on the 4-mile Big Creek Gulf Trail, and return the next day on the 3.2-mile Big Creek Rim Trail. To access the Big Creek trails, you park and check in at the Stone Door Ranger Station near Beersheba Springs, TN and hike the 1-mile trail to Stone Door, which is also the trail-head for the Big Creek trail system.

Scenic overlook on the way to Stone Door.

Here is the crew. From left to right: Aaron, Nick, and Josiah. This was Josiah's first backpacking adventure.

Nick enjoying the view at the Stone Door overlook.

Looking over the edge of the cliff into the 750 feet deep Big Creek Gulf.

A view of the cliff's edge into the gulf.

A lonely pine tree set against the vast hardwood forest. 

The Stone Door was used for centuries by Native Americans as a passage way from the top of the plateau into the gorges below. The "door" is a large crack in the limestone, 10 feet wide by 100 feet deep. In order to get to the Big Creek Gulf Trail, we had to descend through the Stone Door.

Descending through the Stone Door.

Big Creek Gulf Trail is a rough, challenging trail that leads through the gorge below and to the west of Stone Door, ending at Alum Gap campground.

On our way to the bottom of Big Creek Gulf. Just past this point, we ran across a small Copperhead snake on the trail. We waited until it slithered off the trail and made sure to give it a wide birth. 

After nearly an hour of slowly negotiating the narrow and rocky trail, we finally made it to the bottom of the gulf and found a nice clearing to stop and have lunch. 

Big Creek flows both above and below ground. Dry streambeds are very common in areas where the creek flows underground. But about 3 miles in, we finally heard running water and found the Blue Hole Sink, where Big Creek flows under a large slab of limestone and disappears.

Big Creek, just before it flows underground.

The rushing water of Big Creek

Some hikers left behind a small "monument" at the mouth of the sink.

Just past Blue Hole Sink, the trail began ascending back to the top of the plateau. And when I say ascend, I mean straight up - for almost a mile. Without a backpack, the ascent would be challenging. With a backpack, it was near torturous. I would have taken pictures, but I was too busy gulping in air and praying that I would make it to the top.

We did make it to the top, and were rewarded by a sign pointing us to the campground: our stop for the night. Alum Gap has about 11-12 sites, with the middle 4-5 sites actually on the ridge. We picked out a site on the ridge and spent the next hour or so setting up camp. Just below our site, there was a rock ledge with a great view of the gulf.

The boys relaxing on the rock ledge.

After we set up camp, we decided to take a quick hike over to Greeter Falls, about 1.5 miles away. The first mile of the Greeter trail is an easy plateau top walk with the last half-mile a moderate hike down into the gorge.

Some Mountain Laurel in bloom along the Greeter Trail.

Greeter Falls, on Firescald Creek, plummets over a 50-foot edge into a cold, clear plunge pool.

The boys decided to negotiate the edge of the plunge pool and see how close they could get to the falls.

The boys at the base of the falls

After enjoying a half-hour or so at the falls, we headed back to camp to prepare for dinner.

 At the Greeter Trail trailhead, is a small brooke that serves as the water supply for the Alum Gap camp. During the spring, there is plenty of water, and it's only a few hundred yards from camp. On our way back, we stopped and filled up all of our water bottles with enough water for our meals and our hike out the next day.

After a filling meal of freeze-dried food and a small campfire, we called it a night. The next morning, we all woke up around 7:00am, struck camp, had a quick breakfast, and headed back to the truck via the Big Creek Rim Trail. Unlike, the Big Creek Gulf Trail, the Rim Trail is an easy trail that follows the edge of the plateau above Big Creek Gulf; and offers numerous scenic views.

On our way out along the Big Creek Rim Trail.

All in all, it was a challenging yet fun excursion. The boys enjoyed it so much, they want to make it a yearly event. We'll see.

Burgess Falls State Park

On April 26th, after our weekend camping trip at Rock Island State Park, we decided to swing by Burgess Falls State Park on our way home. Burgess Falls is a day-use park, so no camping is available. The park is located on the Falling Water River and is known for its four waterfalls, the last of which is pretty impressive.

Since we were on our way home from camping, we were towing our trailer. Thankfully, Burgess Falls does have a few extra-long parking spaces in their overflow parking lot that were just long enough to fit my truck and our 26' trailer. They are pull-in spaces, not pull-through spaces - so if you are arriving with a trailer, be prepared to back out of the space when you leave.

From the main parking area, park visitors can access a 1.5 mile round trip trail that runs along the Falling Water River and takes you past all four waterfalls. That main trail is well-traveled and not too strenuous. At the observation deck of the final and largest of the falls, there is a spur trail that descends to the base of the falls. That trail is rather strenuous: the first half being mostly steep stairs, and the last half climbing down steep and sometimes slippery rocks. If you are adventurous enough to take the spur trail, you will be rewarded with some spectacular vantages of the falls.

The first falls you come to from the main parking lot are the 20' Cascades.

Just below the cascades are the 30' Upper Falls.

Further down the trail and over a bridge are the 80' Middle Falls.

Here is a closer-up view of the Middle Falls.

At the end of the trail is an observation deck where you can view the 136' Lower Falls.

Right by the observation deck is a spur trail that takes you to the base of the falls. This is a view of the Lower Falls about half-way down the trail to the base - just before it starts to get really strenuous.

Aaron at the base of the falls.

At the base of the falls. I had mist all over my lens, so
the picture is a little blurry.

View from the top of the falls. I like how the water droplets look like they are leaping into the gorge below.

Rock Island State Park

Spring time is here in Tennessee, and I've been itching to get the RV out of storage and go on our first family camping trip of the year. I love camping in our Tennessee State Parks. While KOAs and  Good Sam RV Parks are nice, when I go camping, I want to get somewhat away from civilization and enjoy the beauty of God's creation. Several of the state parks here in Tennessee actually have some really nice campgrounds, and Rock Island State Park is no exception.

Rock Island State Park is located on the headwaters of Center Hill Lake at the confluence of the Caney Fork, Collins, and Rocky Rivers. In fact, Rock Island is not actually an island, but a peninsula that exists between the Caney Fork and Collins Rivers. In 1917, a hydroelectric plant and dam was built by the Tennessee Electric Power Company just downstream from the Caney/Collins confluence. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) took over operations in the 1940s, and in 1966, leased a portion of their property to the State of Tennessee for park development. While Rock Island State Park is well off the beaten path, the presence of the TVA is very noticeable, with a large power station and large power cables sometimes dominating the landscape. Rock Island has several hiking trails, picnic areas, boating and fishing opportunities, and a 50 site RV-friendly campground.

All sites in the main campground have water and electric hookups, and 4 (sites 31-34) have sewer hookups. The park boasts having free wi-fi available at the campground - and they do - but the wi-fi is spotty at best. The campground looks like it has just undergone an extensive renovation, and the wi-fi is part of the newness of that renovation. While talking with the campground hosts, I learned that they are actively working out the bugs in their wi-fi system. All of the sites are paved with asphalt and tent-appropriate sites have sizable dirt pads in addition to the paved parking area.

We pulled into camp late Friday afternoon and set up camp in site #34 - the last of the sewer equipped sites.

Site #34 at Rock Island State Park campground
Equipped with water, electric, sewer, fire ring, and picnic table/patio. 

The park office and check-in site closes at 4:00 pm, and we arrived a little after 5:00. Thankfully, we had reservations and were able to pull right in.

Tennessee requires campers to burn only locally harvested wood in order to prevent wood-born parasites from entering the forest ecology. Because of that, State Parks typically sell locally harvested firewood for campers to buy. For some reason, Rock Island does not offer that service. I looked around for a place to buy firewood and couldn't find any. When I asked the campground host, he told me I could buy some at Taylor's Corner Market in the nearby town of Rock Island. Since it was near dusk, he offered to give me a few of his personal stash - which was definitely going above and beyond, in my opinion.

Leading up to our weekend, all of the weather forecasts were calling for 90%-100% chance of rain that Saturday with a high likelihood of severe weather. Leading up to our trip, I said several prayers asking for mercy in the weather department; and we were all hopeful that we would get enough breaks in the rain to explore the park and take in the scenery. As we turned in for the night that Friday night, it began to rain, which didn't offer much hope.

To our surprise, when we awoke Saturday morning, all of the rain had blown over and the forecast for the day had completely changed. There were chances of rain in the morning and evening - but for the bulk of the day, rain chances were minimal. My prayers were answered!

A little mound of moss along the Moonshine Trail.

While the rest of the family showered and got ready for the day, I decided to do a little exploring on my own. At the campground, there is a short half-mile trail called the Moonshine Trail. The trail meanders through the woods, past the base of an old moonshine still - hense the name.

A millipede I found along the way

The trail was definitely a nice escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. I had the whole trail to myself... well myself and a few curious squirrels and an interesting insect or two.

Once I returned to camp, I found that a few family members had actually ventured outside and were enjoying the beautiful day as they read their daily devotions.

Daily reading in the great outdoors

Angel resting by the fire ring (she doesn't read).

While our eldest child was still getting ready, Aaron and I decided to go on a little adventure of our own. We hopped on our bikes and headed into the park to find some places to explore. We quickly found the Eagle Trail - a 0.7 mile trail that runs along the Caney Fork between two picnic areas. At the end of the Eagle Trail was the Blue Hole Trail, which is a steep, wet, and rugged half-mile trail that descends to the edge of the Caney Fork, along a couple of small, yet picturesque waterfalls.

Small waterfall hidden away at the end of a spur off the Eagle Trail.

A lot of water was flowing down the gorge as we descended the Blue Hole trail.

One of the waterfalls at the end of the Blue Hole trail.

Another waterfall at the end of the Blue Hole trail. As we hiked beneath these falls, I was thankful for waterproof hiking boots.

Poison ivy - and lots of it. Don't touch!

Along the banks of the Caney Fork River. These are the headwaters of Center Hill Lake.

After hiking back to our bikes, we rode back to camp and met up with Lea and Haley, and had a quick lunch.

After lunch, we all decided to go exploring the park as a family. The main draw of the park is Great Falls, just downstream from the Great Falls TVA Power Station. In order to see the falls, you have to go to the other side of the Caney Fork. The quickest way to the other side of the river is across the dam, but currently the dam is closed to vehicle and foot traffic. With the dam closed, we had to leave the park, cross the bridge on the other side of Rock Island, and re-enter the park on Powerhouse Road.

Great Falls, standing right across the river from the Great Falls Power Station. 

Great Falls from the same viewpoint

We walked west along the trail that runs along side the Caney Fork. This is Great Falls from the west side of the falls. From here, you can see the main falls, plus a series of cascades.

Great Falls, directly across the river from the falls.

After seeing the falls, we drove back to the Warren County side of the river to see a few more of the park's attractions.

This Spring House "Castle" used to serve as the Rock Island community water supply. The spring is still active, but the spring house is no longer functional

Some smaller falls upstream of Great Falls near the Old Mill parking lot. There is a trail from the parking lot that goes down into the gorge for a close-up view of Great Falls. Because of all the recent rains, the trail was closed. When water is released from the dam, this entire gorge becomes so flooded, that these falls are no longer visible.

After getting our fill of the park, we headed back to the campsite for dinner and our last night at the park. After dinner, we ended our evening with the obligatory campfire.

Sitting around the campfire

And almost as if on cue, as soon as we went in the camper for the night, the skies opened up in a torrential downpour. As I lay in bed, listening to the rain - I couldn't help but thank the Lord for sparing us from the rain and giving us a beautiful day to enjoy just a small part of His amazing creation.