American Travel Journal: May 2016

In late May 2016, I returned to the Nemo area of Obed National Wild & Scenic River to hike "south" on the Cumberland Trail to Alley Ford and return. This five mile round trip hike actually heads northeast above the Emory River before heading west along the Obed River. This section of the trail crosses into the Catoosa Wildlife Management Area and continues for a total of 14 miles to the Daddys Creek trailhead. The overall trail is rated as very difficult, but except for the spur trail to Alley Ford, I would consider the short segment I hiked as a moderate trail. To access the trailhead from Wartburg, head west on Spring Street and continue south as it becomes Catoosa Road. Continue on Catoosa Road for about 5.5 miles and cross the Emory River on the new bridge. Shortly after crossing the river, turn down the single lane gravel road on the right to the Rock Creek Campground. Park in the paved lot at campsite #1 and walk down the paved road toward the other campsites to find the trailhead on the left. If you don't want to drive down and up a steep one-lane gravel road with the chance of meeting another vehicle, park at the paved hiker lot at the Nemo picnic area on the Wartburg side of the river. Then walk across the old bridge and along the shoulder of Catoosa Road before descending the gravel road to the campground trailhead.

Topographic map with GPS route

Elevation Profile

Rock Creek

Campground road with trailhead on left

Cumberland Trail Obed River Section

The trail begins as a wide path

Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia)

Rock bridge over a drainage area

The trail passes below a rock wall

Seemingly solid rock really isn't

Leaning wall

Second rock bridge

First wooden foot bridge

More Mountain Laurel blooms

The path narrows to a single track through a mountain laurel thicket

Passing below a second rock wall

Almost too low to duck under

Single track through the forest

A profusion of ferns surround the trail

The trail follows an old road for a distance

End of the road and the first rock hop

Second wooden foot bridge

Trail follows an old coal mine berm

Bench on the berm

Nature is reclaiming a strip mine access road

The third and shortest wooden foot bridge is rotting, but easily stepped over

Fourth wooden footbridge

Stone steps are no worse for the wear after a tree fell

Fifth wooden footbridge

Bigleaf Magnolia (Magnolia macrophylla) saplings

Cumberland Trail junction with the spur trail to Alley Ford

Steep roadbed down to Alley Ford

Alley Ford on the Obed River

The "beach" and swimming hole upstream of Alley Ford

Sandstone bluff and deep water at the beach

Another rocky shoal upstream of Alley Ford

View downstream from Alley Ford

Entry to Cumberland Trail State Park and Obed Wild & Scenic River is free.

The Cumberland Trail State Park website is http://tnstateparks.com/parks/about/cumberland-trail.

The Cumberland Trail Conference, builders of the trail, website is http://cumberlandtrail.org/. Details of the Obed River section are at http://cumberlandtrail.org/maps-and-guides/trail-segments/obed-wild-and-scenic-river/obed-river-segment/.

The Obed Wild and Scenic River website is https://www.nps.gov/obed/index.htm.

In mid-May 2016, I hiked the Angel Falls Overlook Trail in Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area. The trailhead for this hike is at Leatherwood Ford on Tennessee Highway 297 in Scott County just 11 miles west of downtown Oneida. On the park website, the trail is included in the list of 14 popular day hikes. "Popular" might be a bit misleading as I only saw five other hikers along the trail on a beautiful weekday afternoon.

While listed as a six mile round-trip hike on the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area website, I found it to be nearly 6.4 miles. Much of the extra mileage is due to a detour at the beginning of the hike. The old, low water bridge has been damaged by flooding and is closed. This requires walking from near the east bank of the river up the entrance drive to the highway, walking across the bridge to the west side, descending 36 concrete steps, and following an access trail to the west end of the old bridge. From the trailhead to the Grand Gap Loop Trail junction, the route is signed for both the John Muir and Sheltowee Trace trails. The Sheltowee Trace Trail is a long-distance National Recreation Trail with its southern terminus in Big South Fork.

As shown on the map and elevation profile, the first two miles of the trail is relatively flat as it follows the river downstream to the north. The trail then turns left and follows Fall Branch before crossing the stream on a two span foot bridge. The first span had a definite sag that shouldn't exist. In addition, a section of handrail is missing on the upstream side between the two spans. Until repairs are made, I'd suggest extreme caution be used when crossing the branch. This would include only having one person on the bridge at a time to minimize the risk of a structural failure.

After crossing Fall Branch, the trail begins climbing to the rim by a series of switchbacks. At several turns, social trails continue for a short distance although it isn't too difficult to notice the turns. After climbing over some boulders to a rock ledge, a cable handrail has been installed to allow easy passage. However the first anchor has pulled out of the rock and the cable is tied around the second anchor. Just past the cable, the trail climbs another rock ledge by way of a five rung timber ladder. Near the trail junction, logs have been installed as steps for the final climb. Once at the junction, turn right on the wide trail to follow the Grand Gap Loop Trail to the overlook. Note that the Grand Gap Loop is a multi-purpose trail for hikers and mountain bikers. In order to see the river from the overlook, climb down and back up to the large rock outcrop. While I could hear the Angel Falls rapids, I could not see them due to the lush green foliage.

The trail is rated moderate to difficult by the park service. Due to the condition of the Fall Branch foot bridge, the missing cable anchor, and the timber ladder with widely spaced rungs, I would not consider this a family-friendly trail.