Dispatches From the Parks: Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area
On the border of Tennessee and Kentucky is a park that not many have heard of but is absolutely one of the most unique parks that America has to offer. Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area preserves a section of the Cumberland River as it weaves its way through rock, forests and mountains. I was fortunate enough to visit this fascinating park this past October. I may have only visited the Tennessee side of the park, but it was an unforgettable visit.
My first day in the park was spent in the Bandy Creek district. Based on the infrastructure I witnessed, this appeared to be one of the more visited sections of the park. It has a campground and visitor center, both of which I was able to visit. The only disappointment of my trip was that I wasn't also able to visit the camp store, which closes early on Sundays (the day I happened to visit). The visitor center was a small and simple facility but there was a lot to enjoy about it. The park video is played in one room that has been converted into a theater, and the movie was a lot of fun. It seems like it was recently produced as the production values were top notch. The campground was right across the main roadway from the visitor center, and this ended up being one of my favorite campgrounds in the entire park system. The campsite I got was spacious and felt like I was in the wild despite being right next to a driveway and many other modern facilities. My favorite feature was the camp restroom, which was spacious and had hot showers. Bandy Creek happens to be a major recreation area for horses, so the time I spent hiking in the area involved a lot of walking around horse poop. This was off putting at first, but as I got further down the trails I was introduced to some of the natural features that this park is known for. There was an interesting cave formation and many large boulders near the end of the main path I took. They looked unique from the normal type of boulders and rock formations you would find in a typical forest.
The majority of my second day was spent checking out the Honey Creek Loop Trail. It was a hike (pun maybe intended) to get here as it’s in the middle of nowhere and I had to take a dirt road to get to the beginning of it. The trail starts off flat and gives no indication of the magical experience you will eventually have on it. The first interesting feature is a small and hidden creek about a mile or two in that you can hear developing into a waterfall. Small glimpses of the fall through the shrubbery reveal that it descends into a dark cave formation. As you continue on the trail (which loops back around to where you began) the cave formations and rock walls get more interesting. Some of the rock walls look similar to the boxwork of Wind Cave, giving it a peculiar appearance. One portion of the trail has an offshoot that you can follow to a steep ladder that tops out at a gorgeous view of a bend in the Cumberland River. It’s amazing to see what formations the river makes as it works its way through the mountains and cuts through the landscape. The trail isn’t exactly easy. It gains almost 1000 feet in elevation, and there is quite a bit of rock scrambling involved.
I wish I could have spent more time at Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area as there are multiple districts in the park and I only covered a good portion of the park in the Bandy Creek district. I didn’t even get close to crossing the border and checking out the Kentucky side of this magnificent park. So if you find yourself in Southern Appalachia try to check this place out as you can still get enamored with the area with just a day visit.
