We’ll leave our cars at the visitor center, loosen up for the climb ahead on the Storybook trail, continue into Big Cove Campground, onto the Tower Trail and very soon turn off onto the Bird Mountain Trail. We’ll go up (about 1300’ over 1.8 miles) to the Cumberland Trail and take a very short detour to the east to admire Castle Rock. Then we’ll turn back west on the Cumberland trail until we reach the Ross Gap Trail, where we’ll have big fun going perilously downhill on a rutted and rocky old “road”. After a mile or so of suffering, we’ll turn with the Ross Gap Trail onto a well-made trail that will spit us out into the Rocky Fork Field. We’ll roadwalk about half a mile back to the Visitor Center.

This hike is about 7.5 miles long, rated moderate for length but challenging for elevation gain and rough trail.

For carpooling, meet at Oak Ridge Books-a-Million - 310 S Illinois Ave, ready to leave at 8:30 AM (50 miles RT @ .07 per mile, $3.50) or the Frozen Head Visitor Center at 9:15 AM.