Introduction
The most
recent article was about my Thursday, June 4th, hike at Norris
Dam State Park. With memories of being down by the lake still on my
mind, I chose last Sunday afternoon to once again explore Big
Ridge State Park. It was my seventh hike there. My most
recent hikes at the park are highlighted in the articles from
2/20/2024
and 2/22/2024.
Welcome, dear reader, to the 90th entry
in the Hiking
Topic Section! After morning worship, I could not persuade my wife,
her sister, or our niece to join me in a hike at Big Ridge State
Park. Thus, my vintage 2006 Nissan Frontier and I went alone.
Will you join me as we hike the Lake
Trail? We may even take a brief offshoot trail to see what we can
find. Let's hike!
Big Ridge State Park
Before hiking, let's find out more
about the park. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) established the
park in 1949. Previously, the area consisted of rural communities,
homesteads, and farmland. Imagine what it was like living in the area
a hundred or more years ago.
The park got its name from the numerous
ridges in the area. Should it have been named Big Ridges State
Park? The park includes several
ridges.
The park covers 3,687 acres. The
45-acre Big Ridge Lake is a primary feature. Further, the park has
access to Norris Lake. At the lake, visitors enjoy swimming, fishing,
and boating on the tranquil water. A sandy beach alongside Big Ridge
Lake provides sunbathing and swimming. For children, an enclosed,
concrete-bottomed shallow area provides extra safety.
At least 12 hiking trails, several of
which connect, range in length from a tenth of a mile to 2.65 miles
and in difficulty from easy to challenging. Back-country camping,
camper hookups, and cabins are available for overnight stays. (At the
time, all cabins were closed for renovations and should reopen this
fall.)
Well, enough about the park. Let's
hike!
My truck and I left home at 2:12 PM and
drove the longer route along Norris Freeway (Hwy. 441) to Anderson
Hwy. (Hwy. 61). Forty-four minutes and 29.5 miles later, at 2:56 PM,
I parked in the parking lot near the visitor center. The parking lot
was nearly full.
Hiking the Lake Trail
Clothed in short pants and a T-shirt, I
walked a few yards southwest past the parking lot to the southwestern
entrance to the Lake Trail. I wore a ball cap and my warm-weather
hiking shoes, and I had my trusty canteen full of water with me. My
small hunting knife was strapped to my belt. I decided to hike the
1.8-mile Lake Trail, which meanders around the lake.
Looking west, I took the following
photograph at 3:03 PM before starting my hike a minute later:
I bypassed the tenth-of-a-mile
Meditation Point Trail since I didn't need to meditate. The trail is
wide enough for a four-wheeler, if one were allowed on the trail, and
well-kept. The trail gently ascends, descends, and turns. I passed a
couple of family groups, resting at benches along the trail. A boy
said, “Don't come back here!” I think he was answering
nature's call!
At 3:16 PM, after hiking about six
tenths of a mile, I reached the connector to the Loyston Overlook
Trail and took the following photograph:
The view looks northwest. I decided to
venture onto the 0.25-mile trail. Initially, it was a wide and easy
trail until it narrowed and started up the ridge. There, the trail
was narrow and steep, reminding me of House
Mountain. Be careful not to slip and slide down the ridge!
The Loyston Overlook Trail leads up to
Loyston Pointe at the top of the ridge. A trail sign said that the
location “offers views of the widest part of the Loyston Sea on
Norris Lake.” Views, of course, are better in late fall,
winter, and early spring, while trees are barren of leaves.
At Loyston Pointe, I took the following
photograph, looking northwest, at 3:26 PM:
As you can see, the foliage blocked
much of the view. Can you spot the rippling water from the boat that
was passing by?
After hiking carefully back down to the
Lake Trail, I continued westward to a footbridge that spans a lake
inlet. From the bridge I took the following two photographs at 3:46
PM:
The image above looks east toward the
park entrance.
The above image looks west. Folks in
the watercraft were enjoying time on the lake. The hike started off
under a mostly sunny sky, but clouds, as in the view above,
thickened. Humid, the temperature was in the upper 80s Fahrenheit. A
warm breeze from the south blew at times.
Three minutes later, having crossed the
bridge, I took the following two photographs:
The above close-up shot faces northwest. The
article
from 2/22/2024 mentions that I took the Dark Hollow Trail and
found the campsite where my wife, our niece, her friend, and I camped
out overnight on Saturday, 10/4/2008.
The above image shows the northwest entrance
to the bridge and looks southwest.
This time, instead of taking the Dark
Hollow Trail, I chose to continue north and east along the remaining
1.2 miles of the Lake Trail. The section, still wide and well-kept,
continues to twist and turn around the lake and head toward the
northern entrance to the Lake Trail.
At 4:08 PM, I photographed another
trail sign.
Deciding not to visit the Snoderly
Cemetery, which I have done before, I stayed on the Lake Trail.
Ten minutes later, a tenth of a mile
away from the end of the trail, I photographed another trail sign.
After taking the above photograph, a
young man passed behind me. We exchanged brief greetings. Aside from
the families, whom I passed early in the hike, he was the only other
person I saw in the woods.
Shortly after the previous image, my
wife called my cell phone, which was clipped to my belt. At home, she
was thinking about supper and wanted me to buy ranch dressing on my
return trip. Dear, you should have hiked with me!
At 4:21 PM, I photographed the northern
entrance to the Lake Trail. I had just hiked out of it.
I apologize for the slightly crooked
shot. The posts were straight. I held my cell phone camera crooked!
I walked the paved Group Camp Road for
about two-tenths of a mile, crossed the picturesque field, and paused
to photograph the Norton Grist Mill. The time was 4:27 PM.
Choosing not to go inside the mill this
time, I crossed the footbridge and started hiking south and west
along the quarter-mile Ole Mill Trail. It runs below a road and above
the lake. The trail is narrow, fairly level, and rocky. Watch your
step on the rocks!
The Ole Mill Trail comes out at a cabin
area. From there, I continued southwest and passed a picnic area and
the Historic Assembly Hall. Just past it was the beach area.
At 4:43 PM, I snapped the following two
shots of the beach area:
The above view looks northeast. As you
can see, many folks were enjoying the lakeside beach and sand.
The previous image looks northwest. The
concrete-bottomed shallow area for children, not visible in the shot,
is to the left. A few yards above and to the left of the shot is
where the restrooms, changing areas, and covered picnic area are
located. The parking lot, where my truck awaited me, is farther to
the left.
Conclusion
Once back to my truck, the time was
4:45 PM. By my calculation, I hiked about three miles and enjoyed an
hour and 41 minutes in the woods, mostly alone. Any part of a day
in the woods is better than not having been there!
Before
getting into my truck, I changed from the sweat-filled T-shirt
into a dry one in the cab. My truck thanked me. The sweaty T-shirt
dried on the passenger-side floorboard.
The drive back home started at 4:48 PM.
On the return, I drove out and up east on Highway 61 to Maynardville
Pike (Hwy. 33). Going uphill around at least three sharp curves, the
back end of my truck almost met the front end! I don't like those
curves. This shorter drive back home took 21.4 miles in 38 minutes.
In total, I was out of the house for
three hours and 14 minutes, factoring drive time and time in the
woods. Who wants to explore Big Ridge State Park with me the next
time?
