Big South Fork

https://www.nps.gov/biso/index.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_South_Fork_National_River_and_Recreation_Area The Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area preserves the Big South Fork of the Cumberland River and its tributaries in northeastern Tennessee and southeastern Kentucky. In addition, the former mining community of Blue Heron is preserved and interpreted via signage. The Big South Fork region contains one of the highest concentrations of natural bridges in the eastern United States and the area is located in parts of Scott, Fentress, Pickett, and Morgan counties in Tennessee, and McCreary County in Kentucky. Charit Creek Lodge is a wilderness lodge, accessible by trail, located within the park. Encompassing 125,000 acres of the Cumberland Plateau, Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area protects the free-flowing Big South Fork of the Cumberland River and its tributaries. The area boasts miles of scenic gorges and sandstone bluffs, is rich with natural and historic features and has been developed to provide visitors with a wide range of outdoor recreational activities. Please use the following link to learn more about how to get here from various locations. Bandy Creek Visitor Center Exhibits Focus on the recreational opportunities found within Big South Fork and throughout the seven surrounding counties. Facilities & Activities Ask a ranger what to do in the park; free public WiFi, bookstore, park permits, restrooms, and firewood and ice sales. Adjacent to Bandy Creek Campground; approximately 15 miles west of Oneida and 24 miles east of Jamestown, off Highway 297. Blue Heron Interpretive Center Exhibits The Blue Heron Mining Community can be visited at any time to view historic structures and listen to audio programs. Facilities & Activities Ask a ranger what to do in the park; free public WiFi, bookstore, park permits, restrooms, and a concession stand. Railroad Ride The Big South Fork Scenic Railway travels from the Stearns Depot to the Blue Heron Mining Community in a 45-minute trip. For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit https://bsfsry.com/ Location: Located via Highways 1651 and 742. Crossville Visitor Center Located in Crossville, just off Exit 320, on I-40, across from Stone Memorial High School. Location: Crossville, just off Exit 320, on I-40, across from Stone Memorial High School. Helenwood Visitor Center Facilities & Activities Ask a ranger what to do in the park; free public WiFi; restrooms. Location: Located via Highways 1651 and 742. Rugby Visitor Contact Station Facilities & Activities Ask a ranger what to do in the park; free public WiFi, restrooms; park permits. Location: Rugby, off Highway 52, approximately 17 miles west of Jamestown, Tennessee. Stearns Visitor Contact Station Facilities Ask a ranger what to do in the park; restrooms; park permits. Location: Stearns, approximately 0.25 of a mile west of Highway 27, just off Highway 92. Also located three miles south of Whitley City, and 18 miles north of Oneida, Tennessee. Alum Ford Campground Alum Ford is a primitive campground and offers six campsites with a vault toilet facility. No drinking water is located at this area. Alum Ford also has a boat ramp. There are no fees to use the ramp. Campsite Fee 5.00 This fee is for one night of camping for up to six persons per site. Holders of the Interagency Access/Senior Passport pay only half the fee per night. Campsite at Alum Ford Campground Campsite with leaves and picnic table One of the few areas where visitors can camp near the river. Bandy Creek Campground The campground offers a total of 181 campsites: 96 trailer sites which offer water and electric hook-ups, 49 sites for tent camping, and two group camping loops with 19 sites in one loop and 16 sites in the other. All campsites include picnic tables, fire rings, and access to restrooms and showers. A dump station is located near the registration kiosk. There are no sewer hook-ups at individual trailer sites. The group campsites also have their own cook shelters and campfire circles. Campsites with Water and 50-amp Electric Hook-up 32.00 This fee applies to all sites with 50-amp service within loops B, C, and D. Sites without Electric 20.00 This fee applies to sites within loop A. Group Camp 125.00 This fee applies for up to 25 persons per night. An additional $3.00 per night per person is required for more than 25 persons. Campsites with Water and 30-amp Electric Hook-up 25.00 This fee applies to all sites with 30-amp service within loops B, C, and D. Campsite at Bandy Creek pop up camper and truck on a campsite Campers enjoy a beautiful day in the park. Bear Creek Campground This campground contains 23 developed campsites. Each site offers water and electricity, tables, grills, tie-outs for 4 horses, access to modern restrooms with hot showers, a dump station and access miles of horse trails. Bear Creek Horse Camp is located on Bear Creek Road off Hwy. 742, west of Stearns, Kentucky. The fee rate per night is $28.00 (half price for holders of the Interagency Access/Senior Passes). Campsite Fee 28.00 This fee covers one night of camping for up to six persons per site. Holders of the Interagency Access/Senior Passports pay only half the fee. Campsite at Bear Creek Horse Camp campsite located near the entrance of campground This campground provides access to one of many horse trails in the park. Bear Creek Horse Campsite A picnic table sits under a tree next to a campsite pad. Bear Creek Horse Camp Blue Heron Campground Blue Heron Campground is located in the Kentucky portion of Big South Fork, 9 miles west of Stearns off Highway 742. The campground offers a total of 45 sites all with water and electric hook-ups, picnic tables, fire-rings, access to restrooms and showers and a dump station. Camping Fee 20.00 This fee covers one night of camping for up to 6 persons. RV camper on site at Blue Heron Red truck with RV camper on campsite Campers enjoy the serenity of the campground. Station Camp Campground This campground contains 24 developed campsites. Each site offers water and electricity, tables, grills, tie-outs for 4 horses, access to modern restrooms with hot showers, a dump station and access miles of horse trails. Station Camp Campground is located on station Camp Road approximately 4.5 miles from the intersection of Coopertown Road and Leatherwood Road . The fee rate per night is $28.00 (half price for holders of the Interagency Access/Senior Passes). Campsite Fee 28.00 This fee covers one night of camping for up to six persons per site. Holders of the Interagency Access/Senior Passports pay only half the fee. Station Camp Campground A large black RV is parked next to tent pad with picnic table. Station Camp Campground Big South Fork NRRA in Fall Big South Fork NRRA in Fall Big South Fork NRRA in Fall Big South Fork Annual Spring Planting and Music Festival Celebrate the return of spring at the annual Spring Planting and Music Festival at Big South Fork National River and Recreational Area. The skills and traditions that sustained families in the region during the late 1800s and early 1900s were closely tied to the environment. Today, the connection between the landscape and local lifeways survives in the resources at Big South Fork, and the annual festival provides opportunities to explore the role of these traditions. A team of three draft horses pulls a plow through an unplanted field. Cultural Landscapes by Bicycle There are many ways to experience national parks by bicycle, with route options for all levels of experience and preference. Here are just three examples of ways to explore park cultural landscapes by bike in the southeastern part of the United States. Ride a loop road through an agricultural community in a fertile valley, follow the path of a former railroad that once brought tourists to Mammoth Cave, or travel mountain bike trails to a farmstead from the late 1800s. Two people with bikes gaze over a valley filled with fog, with blue mountains in the background. NPS Geodiversity Atlas—Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area, Kentucky and Tennessee Each park-specific page in the NPS Geodiversity Atlas provides basic information on the significant geologic features and processes occurring in the park. boulders and river at angel falls rapids Lora Blevins Farmstead Cultural Landscape The Lora Blevins Farmstead is typical of the settlement patterns found throughout the Big South Fork plateau in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A number of historical landscape features still exist at the site, including fields, fruit and nut trees, hedgerows, road traces, fences, foundations, an animal pen, and a cemetery. A wood farm building on the Blevins Farmstead stands at the edge of a grassy field. Parch Corn Creek Farmstead Cultural Landscape Parch Corn Creek Farmstead is a part of the proposed Big South Fork Rural Historic District. The Big South Fork Rural Historic District is significant at the state level for its association with the early settlement, agriculture and rural community life, and economy of the Upper Cumberland region in Tennessee. Parch Corn (Blevins/Litton) Cabin - late 20th century (P.C.C. Farmstead: CLI, NPS, 1998) Charles Rudy Slaven/John Litton Farmstead Cultural Landscape The Charles Rudy Slaven/John Litton Homestead is a 184 acre landscape located on the North Fork of the Fall Branch in Scott County, Tennessee. The diverse resources of the district are united historically by their association with farming activity and rural life in the Upper Cumberland from 1821 to 1950. The district is significant in the areas of agriculture, architecture, archaeology, community planning and development, exploration and settlement, and industry. John Litton barn (Charles Rudy Slaven/John Litton Farmstead: CLI, NPS, 1998) Oscar Blevins Farmstead Cultural Landscape The Oscar Blevins Farmstead is a part of the proposed Big South Fork Rural Historic District. Due mostly to the Basin’s naturally confining physiography, a historic lack of any developed road system, and the existence of only narrow parcels of arable floodplain, the rural landscapes that developed here, as elsewhere in the Upper Cumberland, were unique in how they displayed the intimate and relationship between land and people. Original cabin on Oscar Blevins Farmstead (NPS) Series: Geologic Time Periods in the Paleozoic Era During the Paleozoic Era (541 to 252 million years ago), fish diversified and marine organisms were very abundant. In North America, the Paleozoic is characterized by multiple advances and retreats of shallow seas and repeated continental collisions that formed the Appalachian Mountains. Common Paleozoic fossils include trilobites and cephalopods such as squid, as well as insects and ferns. The greatest mass extinction in Earth's history ended this era. fossil corals in a rock matrix Pennsylvanian Period—323.2 to 298.9 MYA Rocks in Cumberland Gap National Historical Park represent vast Pennsylvanian-age swamps. Plant life in those swamps later became coal found in the eastern United States. fossil tracks on sandstone slab Paleozoic Era During the Paleozoic Era (541 to 252 million years ago), fish diversified and marine organisms were very abundant. In North America, the Paleozoic is characterized by multiple advances and retreats of shallow seas and repeated continental collisions that formed the Appalachian Mountains. Common Paleozoic fossils include trilobites and cephalopods such as squid, as well as insects and ferns. The greatest mass extinction in Earth's history ended this era. fossil corals in a rock matrix Changing Patterns of Water Availability May Change Vegetation Composition in US National Parks Across the US, changes in water availability are altering which plants grow where. These changes are evident at a broad scale. But not all areas experience the same climate in the same way, even within the boundaries of a single national park. A new dataset gives park managers a valuable tool for understanding why vegetation has changed and how it might change in the future under different climate-change scenarios. Green, orange, and dead grey junipers in red soil, mountains in background Women in Fire Science: Alicia Schlarb Alicia Schlarb is the lead fire effects monitor for a portion of the National Park Service's Southeast Region. She and her crew provide prescribed burning, monitoring, and wildland fire responses to national parks located within Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and portions of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Florida. She loves fire and that she can change perceptions about wildland fire through science. Alicia Schlarb. Series: Geologic Time—Major Divisions and NPS Fossils The National Park System contains a magnificent record of geologic time because rocks from each period of the geologic time scale are preserved in park landscapes. The geologic time scale is divided into four large periods of time—the Cenozoic Era, Mesozoic Era, Paleozoic Era, and The Precambrian. photo of desert landscape with a petrified wood log on the surface Project Profile: Develop Laurel Branch Spoils Removal Design at Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area The National Park Service will conduct environmental and cultural surveys as well as develop an engineering design to remediate two contaminated mine drainage sites at Laurel Branch Spoils in Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area. water flows over large rocks and boulders Project Profile: Develop Removal Design for Blair Creek Mine at Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area The National Park Service will assess contaminated drainage from abandoned coal mines affecting Blair Creek at Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area. a river is visible from below a rocky cliff, the river cuts through a lush forest Project Profile: Control Invasive Plants in Appalachia The National Park Service will hire a biological technician and two interns to assist the Southeast Region Invasive Plant Management Team (SE IPMT) in coordinating Early Detection and Rapid Response (EDRR) efforts, provide training to parks, and work with parks to complete additional treatments to manage invasive plants. a person with a weed sprayed backpack stands next to vegetation Project Profile: Plug and Reclaim 6 Orphaned Wells at Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area The National Park Service will plug six wells in Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area. The project will fund the removal of abandoned production equipment and flowlines and reclamation the sites to protect resources and provide for a safer visitor experience. A scenic vertical landscape of Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area. Series: Park Paleontology News - Vol. 16, No. 1, Spring 2024 All across the park system, scientists, rangers, and interpreters are engaged in the important work of studying, protecting, and sharing our rich fossil heritage. <a href="https://www.nps.gov/subjects/fossils/newsletters.htm">Park Paleontology news</a> provides a close up look at the important work of caring for these irreplaceable resources. <ul><li>Contribute to Park Paleontology News by contacting the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/common/utilities/sendmail/sendemail.cfm?o=5D8CD5B898DDBB8387BA1DBBFD02A8AE4FBD489F4FF88B9049&r=/subjects/geoscientistsinparks/photo-galleries.htm">newsletter editor</a></li><li>Learn more about <a href="https://www.nps.gov/subjects/fossils/">Fossils & Paleontology</a> </li><li>Celebrate <a href="https://www.nps.gov/subjects/fossilday/">National Fossil Day</a> with events across the nation</li></ul> Photo of a mountain hillside with flowers. A Georgia State University and National Park Service Collaboration: Fossil Fact Sheets in the Southeast Region A partnership between Georgia State University and the NPS Paleontology Program has enabled more focused paleontological resource support in parks in the Southeast Region of the U.S. During the past several years students mentored by Dr. Christy Visaggi have helped to complete paleontological resource inventories in several parks in the southeast region uncovering the fossil records of these parks. Photo of 3 people standing in front of a poster display. Updated Species Database Will Help Boost Amphibian Conservation Across the National Park Service To steward amphibians effectively, managers need basic information about which species live in parks. But species lists need constant maintenance to remain accurate. Due to recent efforts, the National Park Service now has an up-to-date amphibian species checklist for almost 300 parks. This information can serve as the basis for innumerable conservation efforts across the nation. A toad sits on red sand, looking into the camera. Project Profile: Restore Eastern Grasslands The National Park Service will restore up to 4,000 acres of agricultural fields and degraded lands across 37 parks in 15 states. This landscape-scale restoration project will expand the range and connectivity of native grasslands across the eastern US, restore biodiversity and critical ecosystem functions, reduce pesticide use, benefit people and wildlife, and create employment opportunities for diverse early career youth. A park manager and others standing amidst a grassy landscape. Guide to the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) Southeast Region Collection This finding aid describes the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) Southest Region Collection, part of the NPS History Collection. Project Profile: Mitigate Abandoned Mine Drainage and Close Open Mine Portals at Big South Fork National River and Recreation Areas The National Park Service will streamline coordination for existing acid mine remediation efforts within the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area. A brown puddle of water Project Profile: A Strategic Approach to Building Forest Resiliency in Southeast Parks The National Park Service is addressing the climate change vulnerability of southeast park ecosystems. Fall-colored trees on a mountain slope. A tree is in the right-side foreground. Hidden in Plain Sight: Old Growth Remnant Grasslands During 2024 scouting for a large eastern grassland restoration project funded by IRA and BIL, several old growth remnant grasslands were identified in National Capital and Northeast Region parks that were previously unknown. These remnants preserve the genetic integrity of the original grassland flora of the eastern US and are true unexpected treasures that in some cases, were hidden in plain sight. a grassland landscape with distant trees Mussel-Building with the Appalachian Highlands Network: Science and Snorkeling to Protect Imperiled Freshwater Mussels Freshwater mussels are ecosystem powerhouses, but they're also in serious danger. Working alongside park management and other partners, staff from the Appalachian Highlands Network are fighting to protect the diverse assemblage of these underappreciated animals at Big South Fork NRRA and Obed WSR. Two hands hold a collection of about 30 small green and tan mussels, some tagged with glitter. Remarkable, Boring Mussels: Why Scientists Take Photos of Them Anyway Freshwater mussels help keep our waterways clean, among other benefits. But many mussel species are highly imperiled. Photo documentation is an important part of the work to rescue them. Snorkeler in a wetsuit in shallow, greenish water holding a small, tagged mussel.

Big South Fork • B A T B B P J Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area Kentucky and Tennessee National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior •'..'-'- M A K I N G THE MOUNTAINS A DEEPLY CARVED PLATEAU Plateau rivers sustain some of the most varied fish and The Big South Fork River begins in Tennessee at the confluence of the Clear Fork and New rivers, flows north through freshwater mussel species in the nation. Ravines and hollows are among the richest wildflower areas in the South. a spectacular 600-foot-deep gorge, enters Kentucky, and empties into the Cumberland River. This land embraces the Nationally significant for its free-flowing rivers, its deep wildest and most rugged territory on the Cumberland Plagorge, and variety of plants and animals, the area captured teau. Carved over millennia by water flowing over sandstone and shale, the plateau today is a network of hills and the attention of the U.S. Congress in the 1970s. In 1974 Congress authorized Big South Fork National River and Rechollows, rocky ridges, and river valleys. Rock shelters bear reation Area, the first to be designated as both a national evidence of thousands of years of human habitation, and remnants of homesteads and cemeteries dot the landscape. 3 river and a national recreation area. This insightful blend of park management—protecting an area with few roads and t ' . . rr»v i,-/7*% .,j^jaw no development while providing visitors with recreational The gorge slowly widens northward, revealing river opportunities—preserves this park for you and future benches, floodplains, and bottomlands. Many streams generations. V drop suddenly from the plateau's surface into deeply entrenched valleys. The bottom of the gorge ranges from flat and sandy, almost like a beach, to huge boulders that force the river into violent stretches of white water. ~ LAYERS UPON LAYERS Rocks on the Cumberland Plateau were born as sediments deposited by a shallow sea millions of years ago. The sediments built up gradually in horizontal layers thousands of feet thick and, crushed by their own weight, hardened into limestone, shale, coal, and sandstone, topped by a rocky conglomerate—a natural concrete. The Appalachian Mountains are old, even in geologic terms. They formed over millions of years as continental and ocean plates collided, separated, and collided again. Extensive erosion followed each series of mountain building, scouring gigantic mountains into mere nubs. Each time the plates collided, masses of rock pushed up and moved westward (see map at left). When the region uplifted, erosion began shaping a new landscape. Streams cutting into the sandstone and other layers formed gorges, arches, cliffs, and rock shelters. You can see layers of shale, coal, sandstone, and conglomerate at Leatherwood Ford (see map on other side of this brochure). HILLS AND HOLLOWS The plateau's flat surface causes streams to spread out at any angle like tree roots. Water seeping through cracks scours out softer rock, leaving behind hills and carving out hollows (see below). Today the Appalachians—formed under relentless heat and pressure—are a mosaic of uplifted plateaus, parallel ridges and valleys, and layers of sedimentary and igneous (volcanic) rock. RIDGES AND VALLEYS This region features long, even-crested mountain ridges alternating with long, continuous river valleys. Looking much like nature's corduroy, the ridges and valleys run northeast-to-southwest for hundreds of miles (see below). THE CUMBERLAND PLATEAU lies in the western Appalachian Mountains. This large tableland, formed over time by continental ENGEL FALLS GORGE (ABOVE AND BIGHT AT DUSK) DCHUCK SUMMERS FJP5FOCEAN PLATE MAP (ABOVE BIGHT) im-trir collisions, rises over 1,000 feet above the surrounding region. Weather-resistant sandstone tops the plateau giving it a flat horizon (see below), while layers of soft shale erode to form sheer cliffs and steep-walled gorges. „N<GW^ For centuries Indians traversed the plateau and plied its rivers, hunting, fishing, and gathering food (see chart at right). They camped in rock shelters, leaving their stories in the traces of ^ bone tools and spear points that archeologists study today. From " 1,000 t o 3,000 years ago Woodland Indians lived longer in one . place, allowing them to begin crafting pottery (below). By 1000 to 1600, Mississippian Indians built farming communities in river valleys, developed n e w strains of corn, squash, and beans, and supplemented their diet w i t h deer, bear, and other animals from the plateau. In the 1700s Shawnee and Cherokee hunted here, and by 1805 the Cherokee ceded the land to the U.S. government. A Cherokee family in the 1880s watches a girl prepare cornmeal (left). SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION The Paleo-lndian period is characterized by long, fluted Clovis stone points (right). In the early 1800s American settlers of Scotch-Irish heritage w o r k e d subsistence farms. People gathered at stores, one-roo