There are 53 Tennessee State Parks, but only one is what would be described as wild and that is Rocky Fork. the Volunteer State's newest state park located in Unicoi County near Erwin. Well, I should say Lamar Alexander Rocky Fork State Park (but I am sticking to Rocky Fork, sorry Lamar) as the soon to be former U.S. Senator was instrumental along with many other individuals and groups working to secure the tract of land which became the park in 2012. While many have committed time and effort to keep Rocky Fork wild, I am going to spotlight one person in particular John Beaudet.
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| Rocky Fork |
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| Old sign... |
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| ... a new one, hope Rocky Fork stays in the name. |
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| John Beaudet |
John is an interesting guy as he once worked on the PGA Tour and has hiked the Appalachian Trail four times. I hiked with him on my
Sierra Club Backpack this past weekend and there are not many people who know this tract any better than him. John has helped build trails (currently rerouting the Whitehouse Cliffs Trail) and campsites in the park, but his most important contribution is protecting this unique area.
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| On the trail with John. |
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| John & the "Trail Gorillas" are relocating this trail... |
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| ...& helped build this... |
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| ...campsite... |
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| ...with bear box. |
While John's blog,
Rock Fork Journal, has far more information on the past, present, and future of the state park and the fight to protect it than I can hope to share but here are some brief facts on the area. The Rocky Fork Tract is a 10,000-acre parcel of land which 2,000-acres were purchased by the State of Tennessee with the majority being part of the Cherokee National Forest. The tract is a large basin and Rocky Fork itself being the cleanest tributary of the Nolichucky River.
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| Rocky Fork from Buzzard Rock... |
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| ...& Whitehouse Cliffs. |
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| Part of the watershed. |
While the state park makes up 20% of the tract it is a vital section. It is here that there is the only entrance to the park. When Nashville made its original pitch it was for a primitive park...with a small visitor center, picnic pavilion and primitive campground (no RVs). Since the park was established those plans have changed and even called for building a two-lane road to an overlook (see cover photo for the view) and an RV campground deep inside the park. So, it has been people like John who have been fighting to keep it wild. Talking with him he had good ideas. One I really liked is putting the visitor center on TN-352 just outside the entrance.
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| The narrow road into the park. |
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| Current entrance. |
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| Main parking area. |
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| Beside the parking area. |
Like the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, what makes Rocky Fork special is the wildness of it. With the vision of people like John, Rocky Fork could be a mini-Smokies in the Wood Booger's backyard.
For more information visit these sites...
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