A Hidden Gem of the Blue Ridge Mountains

(C)2016 Douglas W Davis

It is fitting that my 50^th article for this blog be about a 50-foot-tall gem hidden away in the Blue Ridge Mountains northwest corner just a stone’s throw from the Tennessee State Line. We learned about his gem at the Rest Stop Visitor’s Center where we enjoyed a picnic lunch the day we drove up here to the campground.

This particular gem is about an hour’s drive from the campground along some very twisting, turning, mountain roads. There are two routes from the campground to the small park where the gem is located. We took the “truck route” to get there, as it was the shortest, by two miles. We came back along the “scenic route.” It was very scenic, and full of hairpin turns and steep drop-offs. We came very quickly to understand why the scenic route was closed to tractor-trailers. They never would have been able to navigate some of the steep, hairpin turns.

The hidden gem I have been referring to is Elk Falls. Here the Elk River plunges 50 feet over a granite precipice into a large basin carved out by years of erosion before flowing on downstream over a series of rapids. The basin is large enough for swimming, and the rapids downstream are gentle enough for tubing.

Getting to the parking area, which is quite small, was an adventure in itself. The falls are several miles off the main highway down a narrow, curving mountain road. Just shy of the park, the blacktop ends and, though we probably didn’t have to, we were able to engage the four-wheel-drive.

The parking area, basically a gravel cul-de-sac right next to the Elk River, could accommodate about a dozen cars. While we were there I don’t think more than six cars were in the lot at any one time. A very short trail led from the parking area to the river where several flat rocks provided areas for sitting by the river and enjoying a picnic lunch. Seating was literally on the rocks, as no type of picnic areas were provided. Some rocks and ledges made for some gentle rapids and shallowness of the river allowed for some careful wading.

(C)2016 Douglas W Davis

A second trail led up and across a rise and then down to the top of the falls. The trail marker showed the trail had a difficulty level of “Easiest.” I was able to traverse it, bad hip and all, taking it slow and easy and with a lot of reliance on my hiking stick. The view from the top of the falls was beautiful in both directions, and the powerful sound of the water spilling over the ledge and plunging into the pool below was mesmerizing.

(C)2016 Douglas W Davis

The trail took a downward slant from there to the base of the falls. Thankfully, that National Park Service, the agency with responsibility for maintaining the area, has built a set of stairs covering most of the descent. A ridge of granite at the base of the climb down reaches out along the downstream side of the pool and affords visitors an up close view of the falls.

(C)2016 Douglas W Davis

While we were there, the only one we saw venture into the pool was one family’s Golden Retriever. We visited in the morning and, with the temperature in the low seventies, the swimming, tubing crowd hadn’t arrived yet. My wife and I stayed long enough to get several pictures and take in the 360-degree panorama, and to allow me to rest up for the hike back to the parking lot.

The hike from the parking lot to the base of the falls is only three-tenths of a mile in distance. It is the climbing up and down that I had to be careful of.

After arriving back in the parking area, we retrieved our picnic lunch from the truck and selected a spot on a nice flat rock where the dogs could cool their feet in the river while my wife and I enjoyed our lunch.

I have several pictures of the falls I’ll be able to share with my students next school year. Should I wind up teaching Sixth Grade Science, the photos will be perfect for showing the effects of erosion on the mountain.

Today we have another adventure planned. Come back to learn what we see and do today in tomorrow’s post.

As always, I remain,

The Exhausted Educator