Big South Fork – DAY TWO

After being somewhat disappointed with the roads that we found on Sunday, we worked hard on the computer trying to map out some really exciting looking roads for today. We had a hardy breakfast of fresh farm eggs, thick pepper bacon and pan fried toast just to make sure that we didn’t run out of fuel. Of course we packed a six pack of Red Bull along with emergency rations in case we couldn’t find another place for lunch like the Forbus General Store.

We planned for some good gravel backroads today and we got a lot more than we bargained for. Another good lesson for using the GPS units. Be sure to see this page for more hints.

Off we go as the horse were whinnying in the stables eager to go with us. Out of the campground and then west on TN 297 to TN 154 and then north a quick two miles and right onto the gravel of Divide Road. The next 18 miles were like a gravel turnpike. The road was more or less straight, rather flat and groomed perfectly to the point a sports car could have negotiated it with no problem. This is a big hunting area with various sections marked for hunters. There were several side roads that we had considered taking, but we didn’t think we’d have time to do too much exploring. We saw no one for most of the morning.

On these back roads it is advised to have a good GPS unit or at least a good map of the area. Even with GPS we had to stop at some of the intersections to make sure we took the correct turn.

We stopped and took some great photos at the Tennessee/Kentucky State Line. The shot-up sign and bikes in the background were perfect.

Once in Kentucky the road became Peters Mountain Road in the Daniel Boone National Forest. After three miles we took a right onto Devils Creek/Beech Grove Road. The gravel route became more interesting with some elevation changes and twisties. It was not as flat and well groomed as it had been in Tennessee. The farther into Kentucky we got the more challenging the road became. One section at Stepping Rock was quite steep with some switchbacks that were a little tricky.

We stopped at the small Blevins/Kidd Cemetery next to what appeared to be an old family homestead that was now used as a hunt camp. We strolled among the headstones as we sipped a Red Bull and contemplated the lives of those long gone.

Back on the bikes we commented that we were already having more fun than the day before. The gravel forest service road continued into higher elevations with glimpses now and then of distant mountain views. We finally came to an intersection with the GPS showing that we should take a left onto Trace Branch Road. Looking at the overgrown trail that was supposedly a road we took a few minutes to alter our planned route.

We continued a mile or two and then took a left onto Beech Grove Road where we began to see occupied residences for the first time in twenty miles. The gravel was now improving and eventually turned to asphalt with some rough sections and then to good pavement as we neared KY 1363. Coming around one corner I was nearly taken-out by a rural mailman taking-up most of the road. Good thing we ride close to the edge in blind corners always expecting such idiots to avoid.

We made a quick stop on the bridge over Rock Creek at the intersection for another Red Bull jolt. Then we took a left onto KT 1363 which had great new pavement, wisked through Oz, and then took a quick right onto Andy Wilson Road. We suddenly came to a foreboding sign “IMPASSBLE DURING HIGH WATER”. We forded two branches before the road suddenly ended. The GPS was showing it going through so we back tracked thinking we had missed a turn, but the road the GPS was showing was nothing more than a creek bed heading up the mountainside. Once again we saw that we couldn’t rely completely on the GPS.

Backtracking to KY 1363 we tried to resume the planned route by heading back easterly and taking a left onto Rattlesnake Ridge Road. This route had good pavement, but some of the locals were giving us a strange look from the front porches. Guess they don’t see too many motorcycles in these parts.

At the western end of Rattlesnake Ridge we hit KY 1363 once again and took a left giving up getting back on track in this particular area. We decided just to head east and get on KY 92 to resume our previously planned route. We did crank it up a bit on this section of newly paved 1363 which had some great sweepers and no traffic. Our KLRs are very responsive on fast twisties with our increased horsepower and Scorpion tires.

After blowing out the pipes a little we came to KY 92 and took a right crossing the South Fork of the Cumberland River. Nancy was quite taken with the old concrete bridge with a twist in it. We took a break under the bridge in a small parking area and decide to try to find a place to eat at Whitley City six miles distant.

As we crested a rise on KY 92 at Hilltop we spotted smoke off in the distance. We assumed it was the same forest fire that we had seen the day before. Along this section we hit traffic for the first time all day. When we got to Whitley City it got worse. We were getting pretty hungry so we made a quick stop at Subway and took off for the backroads again hoping for a quite place to picnic.

We headed out of town easterly on KY 478 through a residential section which quickly improved into a great road with sweepers and good pavement. We found a small pull-off with a footbridge over Bridge Fork Branch which appeared to be a trailhead into the Daniel Boone National Forest. The branch was nearly dry as were most of the area waterways after the severe drought of 2007. After a quick sandwich I took a short nap on the pavement next to a new found friend. Needless to say there was no traffic on the road.

Back on the seat we continued east on KY 478 through the Daniel Boone National Forest. There was absolutely no traffic at all. I don’t think we even saw another vehicle. And there were some good sections of riding through here too. The metal railing certainly makes us slow it down a bit. We’ve seen too many riders seriously injured on the Cherohala Skyway when there lay it down into a metal railing. In places the shadows made it a little difficult to see any debris in the roadway, and we were very alert for deer since this was a heavily wooded area. But oddly, after all the backwoods that we rode on this day we saw no wildlife. We did encounter a tree across the road. Evidently we were the first to come along since it was still spanning both lanes. We didn’t have the chain saw along so we had to leave it for someone else to clear.

After 12 miles of good riding on KY 478 we took a right onto Rocky Point School Road at Duckrun. A short time later we took another right onto Newt Lovitt Road and pulled over to get our bearings. Old Newt himself came by on a tractor and stopped to make sure we were okay. Good folks out in these farming areas.

Around a couple more corners and we took a left on the gravel of Newman Campbell Road. Within half a mile the road began to roughen. There was one particularly difficult section on a steep downhill with a sharp curve where rain had rutted-out some good size rocks. We should have known to turn around here, but we continued on. At the T we took a right following Jellico Creek to the south. This rutted out dirt road started-out okay but after a mile or so it narrowed to almost a single track through tall weeds and then turned to loose rock up a rather steep uphill. It was a good thing the road was dry. It would have bee an impassable mud hole in the rainy season. We were 2.5 miles in on this hellhole, but at this point we decided to retrace our way back out of the deteriorating trail rather than taking a chance of dumping a bike and risking injury in such a remote place. Here again was another lesson not to completely trust a GPS unit. We also made-up a new rule of thumb for these type of back road adventures ….. “if a dirt road begins to get bad it will get worse before it gets better”.

We breathed a big sign of relief when we got back to the pavement. There had been some apprehension about some of the difficult spots coming out but we just gunned it through the tough parts and survived.

We took a left onto Kidd Road and then another left onto KY 1693 south. These paved roads were quite relaxing after the tenseness on Newman Campbell. We zipped through the twisties on good pavement down to KY 92.

We still had a lot of planned backroads to the south on our GPS, but it was getting late and were a little beat after the offroading. We decided to save the rest of the planned route for the next day.

We headed back to the west on KY 92 all the way to US 27 and then US 27 south into Tennessee and Oneida. On the way back to the FunMover we made a quick stop at the Overlook with a beautiful view of the Big South Fork River Gorge. It is truly amzing how deep this gorge is after traveling on level terrain coming each way. It is just a sudden chasm that must have been some surprise to the first explorers who came this way.

Back at camp we eagerly began planning the next days ride. It would be our last day and we wanted to make the best of it.

SUMMARY: Great mix of gravel and pavement

TOTAL DISTANCE: 129 miles

TOTAL TIME: 6.5 hours

HIGHLIGHTS: The morning gravel adventures in Big South Fork and Daniel Boone National Forest.
Some great paved twisties mixed in all day
The real challenge of Newman Campbell Road
Getting back to camp safe and sound ... bikes intact.