BIG SOUTH FORK
(of the Cumberland River)
NATIONAL RIVER AND RECREATION AREA
- The Big South Fork of the Cumberland River flows north
through the Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee (elevation 2000 feet above
sea level) into Kentucky. The National Park Service oversees this 123,000
acre wonderland which is comprised of 90+ gorges and valleys, natural bridges,
rockhouses, sandstone arches, chimneys, waterfalls, and rapids -- a wilderness
John Muir called "impressively solitary" on his 1867 journey
through the area. The BSF also hosts the southern starting point of the
254 mile Sheltowee National Scenic Trail which heads north to and through
Kentucky.
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- There are over 300 miles of hiking trails, some of
which are shared with horses and/or mountain bikes. The Trails Illustrated
map denotes which trails are solely for hikers and which are shared. Trails
are rated as easy to difficult but none are rated strenuous. The BSF allows
hunting during the legal state seasons, so check at the Visitors Center
(931-879-3625) for dates and no hunting zone areas.
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- Black bears were successfully re-introduced in the
1990s, with 14 females translocated from Smoky Mountain National Park in
1996 and 1997. In February of 1999, 5 cubs were spotted, the first cubs
born within the Cumberland Plateau in over 100 years. The park intends
to monitor the population and perhaps supplement it with more transplants
until a self-sustaining population is established.
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- The northern copperhead and timber rattler live here,
and in the spring and summer, there can be gnats, mosquitoes, black flies,
and ticks (including the deer tick responsible for Lyme Disease.)
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- Other wildlife species include red-tailed hawk, turkey,
gray squirrel, opossum, gray fox, skunk, racoon, deer, bobcat, smoky shrew,
eastern mole, eastern woodrat, barred owl, various frogs and turtles, bats,
swallows, kingfishers, herons, woodpeckers, tanagers, titmouses, thrush,
and warblers. Fish include bluebreast darter, rainbow trout, longear sunfish,
and smallmouth bass.
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- Glowworms (larvae of the fungus gnat, diptera mycetohilidae)
can be found in Hazard Cave (in the adjoining Pickett State Park) and in
several areas of BSF and the Appalachian Mountains -- the only other locale
being New Zealand.
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- The BSF consists of Upland Forest, predominantly pine
and oak with occasional sugar maple, basswood, buckeye, poplar, red maple,
and beech, and Ravine Forest of pine, chestnut oak, and sourwood.
MORE INFO:
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- Big South Fork
- 4534 Leatherwood Road
- Oneida, TN 37841
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- Bandy Creek Visitor Center
- (931) 879-3625
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- Trails of the Big South Fork: A Guide for Hikers,
Bikers, and Horse Riders by Russ Manning &
Sondra Jamieson; Mountain Laurel Press, 1995, 246 pages.
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- Big South
Fork website
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