big south fork national river and recreation area

The Big South Fork is gorgeous! You can hike, swim, ride the rails, float, climb, or take wagon rides. If you like kayaking or canoeing, book a trip on the Big South Fork with Sheltowee Trace Outfitters who will take you to your put in and pick you up at the end of your float. Be sure to allow time to read the historic information at the Blue Heron Interpretive area. We booked a VRBO in the area Called Jo's Place in Jamestown, TN. If your driving, you can visit the Blue Heron area where there is food available, bathrooms and wheelchair access. If you are kayaking, well, you know to bring your own food and be prepared with sunscreen and plenty of drinks.

My wife and I camped at Bandy Creek. The camp was well maintained and organized. We took several day hikes which we enjoyed completely. Rock formations were spectacular! We were there for a week and could have stayed longer. The train ride to the old mining camp was very scenic ( take the time to read the information provided at the destination to learn about the hard lifestyle of coal mining). We were there in October of 2012. If you like to avoid tourist traps and depend on your own energy and resources to have fun this is an excellent place to stay. We are returning this year to hike some trails that we missed last year. We are planning also to take a telescope to view the stars at night as they are incredible even without a telescope. If you hike be careful about trail markings, trails leading down to back country camping spots can be misleading. Do your research and have maps available. Overall our experience was great.

While there are many things to see in Big South Fork, the bulk of our time was here. It was our last stop for the day, but it was really an interesting one. The Blue Heron Mining Community is an "outdoor museum". This is the end of the Big South Fork Scenic Railway as well. What you see here are a number of skeletal "buildings" marking where the buildings used to stand when this was an active mining town. The buildings vary from places like the town church and school to various mining buildings and the entrance to the mine itself. There are several coal cars under the coal hopper, and a bridge over the coal hopper that goes all the way across the river to the other side.Some of the buildings have recordings that discuss life in the town. The train station is a good place to start - lots of overall diagrams of the town and some introductory info. Unfortunately, it looked like there was more to see in the station, but it was closed on Sunday afternoon.Plan to spend a couple of hours here. To see it all, plan on walking quite a bit, including up a few steep hills. This kept all of our family interested in wanting to see what the next building brought...

Very nice park with good hiking trails. Very interesting display at the end of the railroad line which provides comprehensive information about family life in a coal mining location.

Rail tour to a retired coal tipple is fine, but not spectacular. Staff at the mine site needs more resources to make the stop/tour more informational.

There was a good selection of hiking trails; some for all abilities. Lots of caves to visit, river access, wildflowers, horse trails, fishing, and arches. For a park east of the Mississippi, it is one of the best.

A welcome relief and step back into time. I enjoy the skeleton buildings because they give an eerie feeling of a time that is no more.

Not much to see if u don't hike. Not great for small kids. Some nice natural arches.