SWEAT ‘N’ HONEY
The Big South Fork
Recreation Area has been on my list of places to hike for years, and I finally
made it there last week. The recreation
area is located northwest of Knoxville, and straddles the Tennessee / Kentucky
state line. It’s always been just far
enough away to keep me from going there.
Last week, a business trip to Glasgow, Kentucky gave me my opportunity.
The recreation area
surrounds the Big South Fork of the Cumberland River, where it cuts through the
Cumberland Plateau. The area is well
known for its gorges, caves, waterfalls, and rock houses. It also features the most significant
collection of natural arches this side of Utah.
It’s impossible to do much
research on the area without reading about the Honey Creek Loop. The loop is only 5 ½ miles long, but it
manages to sample almost all of the highlights the area has to offer. Because of this, I chose it for my first
hike in the area.
A full 6-hour drive got me
to the trailhead. I followed the
directions on the National Park Service website, and had no trouble finding the
trailhead. Unfortunately the Burnt Mill
Bridge was out, so I had to drive around through Rugby, TN, and in on Mount
Helen Road. The road turned rough
towards the end, but didn’t completely disappear. I parked where the loop trail crosses the road, at a large
sign. Even though it was Sunday, there
were only 2 other cars in the parking area.
I got out of the car and
immediately found out why the crowds were absent. It was hotter than Paris Hilton!
I hadn’t felt heat and humidity like this since we had hiked in
Hawaii. I couldn’t wait to get in the
shade.
Getting under the trees
helped a little, but not much. I was
practically swimming through waves of heat, humidity, and bugs as I started
down the trail. Initially the path
seemed a little dull as it wandered through the woods, but I didn’t have to
wait long for some excitement. Soon I
was hiking along the base of rock cliffs.
At many places, the cliffs were overhanging, so that they created rock
shelters. These miniature caves were
pleasantly cool, and soon I found myself wandering from one to the next to keep
out of the heat.
I reached a signed junction,
and took a side trail to the left. A
long climb up a series of ladders led to the Honey Creek overlook. From the top of the cliffs, I enjoyed a
great view of the Big South Fork of the Cumberland River, and its gorge. The only detraction from the view is that the
road ends here. Luckily, there was
nobody around when I arrived.
I backtracked to the main
trail, and continued down to Honey Creek and the river. There are some campsites on the creek, but I
wanted a better look at the river. I
wandered out through brush, weeds, and wildflowers to reach the banks. I was so hot and sweaty, I was tempted to
swim, but I knew it wouldn’t do much good.
It was so hot, the effects of a swim would be short-lived. Plus, the river water was warm, anyway.
From the river, I followed a
rough trail up Honey Creek. I use the
term “trail” loosely. In fact, one
section of the route was in the creek bed itself. This was exciting hiking, I as slogged upstream between the walls
of the gorge. At times I found myself
climbing over, around, or between huge boulders. The rocks redefined slippery, but somehow I never fell.
Despite being well-marked,
the route was still confusing in places.
At one point, a sign declared that the main trail went to the left. A lesser path continued ahead, but was
unmarked. Since the main trail went
left, I thought that implied that the path ahead was the side trail to the
Indian Rock House. I followed it for
some distance, before it finally died out.
I returned to the main path,
and climbed away from the creek along some bluffs. A few minutes later, I reached the Indian Rock House, which is a
truly impressive cavern. I explored
inside, where I found camping gear. I
hiked on, but passed the owners of the gear a few minutes later. They were the first people I’d seen since I
left a couple at the trailhead hours earlier.
I took another side trip,
this time to visit “Tree Top Rock”. The
sign indicated it was only a ¼ mile, but I never found the namesake rock. The next time I do this hike, I’ll skip this
side trip.
I climbed away from the
creek, but later arrived at Ice Castle Falls.
The falls are really just a tall cliff, with a tiny trickle of water
freefalling over them. Despite the lack
of water, it was still pretty, and I’m sure it’s quite impressive after a heavy
rain.
I almost found out
first-hand. As I was leaving, I heard
the thunder that announced the arrival of the storms that had been threatening
all day. The rain started a few minutes
later, but I was so hot I didn’t bother with rain gear. In fact, I was actually looking forward to
getting rained on. Somehow though, the
rain didn’t cool things down at all. A
couple hours later, I drove past a bank, with a thermometer that still
registered 92 degrees.
I took one final side trip a
few minutes later. This one led back
down to Honey Creek, at the base of Honey Falls. The waterfall is hard to see, but is in such a neat place it’s
worth the extra hiking. I didn’t linger
long though, thanks to the rain.
Another mile of (thankfully) easy hiking brought me back to the
car. With all of the side trips, wrong
turns, bad footing, and photography, it had taken me almost 5 hours to go 5 ½
miles. Honey Creek is a fascinating
hike, with constantly changing scenery that never leaves you bored. I definitely recommend doing this hike, just
don’t do it in the summer!
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