Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area ⓘ

By 1780, the Big South Fork and its tributaries were being actively hunted and explored. By 1800, there were several permanent homesteads in the area. The land itself was quite rugged as local names still suggest. Names such as Troublesome, Difficulty, and No Business leave little doubt. Early settlement was confined to the river and streams, where small sections of fertile land could be found. The first settlers came from Virginia, and North Carolina, and were primarily of English, and Scotch-Irish ancestry. Local place names still give testimony to these early families.

These hardy pioneers thrived on the independence and isolation of the Cumberland Plateau. Through hard work and determination, they established small, self-sufficient farms and eventually small communities.

For the next 100 plus years relatively little changed on the Plateau as progress seemed to flow around the region. The post WWII era saw a great exodus as young men returning from the war were no longer satisfied with the isolated life on the Cumberland Plateau. Many left lured by the promise of jobs and better pay in the industries of the north and once thriving communities slowly vanished.

The Big South Fork is located in north central Tennessee and southeastern Kentucky in some of the most rugged terrain of the Cumberland Plateau. The park encompasses approximately 125,000 acres of both rugged forested gorge and adjacent forested plateau. Together with the state and federal lands which share the north and western boundaries the area offers a wide variety of habitats in which plants and animals may abound.

Within the Big South Fork numerous pristine streams flow into the free-flowing Big South Fork of the Cumberland River. Over the eons, this ceaseless moving water has carved the sandstones of the plateau into the impressive cliffs, arches and chimneys found throughout the park.

The Appalachian Highlands Science Journal focuses on scientific research resulting from the efforts of Natural Resource Challenge projects in the Appalachian Highlands Monitoring Network. The journal presents results from the Inventory and Monitoring team, the Exotic Plant Management Team, the Southern Appalachian CESU (Cooperative Ecosystems Study Unit) and the Appalachian Highlands Science Learning Center.

In 2012, the Big South Fork NRRA in conjunction with the Park Studies Unit of the College of Natural Resources at the University of Idaho conducted many contact stops to hand out surveys to the visiting public. The information that was gathered during this period has been compiled and is now available for review.

Birds of the forest interior dominate the landscape in the Big South Fork. Edge species also find some habitat to suit their needs, but birds of open country are largely excluded from the park, and the degree of exclusion increased each year as the park’s forests mature and their open areas diminish.

Besides having general characteristics determined by habitat, the bird communities of the Big South Fork are quantitatively distinct during the various seasons of the year. Observers can detect more birds per hour afield in the Big south Fork during the spring and early summer that any of the other seasons. As summer proceeds into fall, birdsong decreases and many breeding species begin to migrate south, the detectability and density of birds in the Big south Fork diminish. During the late winter the detectability and density reaches it lowest point, however, by late March an influx of early migrants swells the numbers and the increase continues until peak numbers are once again recorded in May and June.

An important feature of the bird community in Big South Fork is the large component of Neotropical migrants breeding within or migrating through the park. Almost 50% of breeding species and most transients in the park belong to this group of New World birds that nest mainly in the temperate or boreal zones of the northern hemisphere during summer and then spend the winter in the tropics of Central and/or south America.

Undeveloped parks like Big South Fork provide breeding habitat and migration stopover points for many such species and are therefore of considerable importance to their survival.

A trip through Big South Fork country reveals a rich landscape of plants of all imaginable colors, textures, form, and function. The area’s woodlands, cliff lines, stream sides, and other habitats harbor a tremendous richness of plant species. The Big South Fork area is part of the greater southern Appalachian region, which is widely known as one of the most biologically diverse temperate forest regions in the world. While plants in Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area bear many similarities to other parts of the southern Appalachians, such as the Great Smoky Mountains, the combination of habitats and plants that occur at Big South Fork distinguish it as a special place to explore and protect. At the heart of this landscape lies the Big South Fork gorge; a forty-mile rift through the northern Cumberland Plateau. It is this gorge and the processes that helped form it over thousands of years that are, in part, responsible for the area’s unique plant assemblage.

Despite its diversity and beauty, the forests in Big South Fork differ strongly in appearance from those that existed prior to European colonization. There are few examples of forest or other plant communities that have not been, in some way, modified by humans. Timber harvesting, agriculture, coal mining, oil and gas extraction, fire, grazing, exotic forest diseases, recreational activities, and invasive non-native plants have all shaped or continue to shape the plant communities within Big South Fork. Many forests in the park are still young and recovering from heavy timber harvesting and other disturbances. Few examples of old-growth trees are evident.

Big South Fork can be divided into two broad vegetation zones: (1) the area within the gorge and (2) the upland area that surrounds the gorge . Both of these zones are almost entirely forested, but each zone also includes smaller areas of non-forested habitats.

Young hiker enjoying the view from one of many overlooks of the Big South Fork River Gorge. NPS

Hiking is one of the most popular and rewarding activities within Big South Fork. A large trail system is designed to take you into the heart of the park. Big South Fork has developed a map depicting the trail system, broken into nine detailed maps of all trail uses. If you need something a little more planned out, try our trip itinerary page with some of the most popular routes already mapped out for you. All 350 miles of trails are conveniently listed and available for you to download and begin exploring the park on foot. Organized into five different “zones” within the park, each listed trail segment shows mileage, how many miles consist of the entire trail, and a space for you to date when you explored it. Please click here to download a complete listing of all 350 miles of park hiking trails. Within the trail system there are a full range of opportunities available, from a short easy hike along the Big South Fork River to long and strenuous multiple day hikes and backcountry camping . The information presented on the Tennessee hiking trails and the Kentucky hiking trails , only scratches the surface of what is available in Big South Fork. As you plan your hiking adventure in the park, contact the staff at both visitor centers for complete and up-to-date information on these and other trails in the park. In addition, trail maps and guide books are available from Eastern National . In an effort to make the trail system more user friendly for a wide variety of users at Big South Fork, the park has implemented a trailhead and trail marking system .