January 3rd - I would consider this outing more of a Jeep ride than a hike, but nevertheless it offered some wonderful scenery in the Unaka Mountain Wilderness just outside of Erwin, Tennessee.   

My friend and co-worker Jimmy Humston and I left work a little early and drove the short distance from our workplace (Buffalo Valley Golf Course) to Highway 107 in Unicoi.  From there we turned off onto the the Unaka Mountain Auto Trail and began searching for our first stop along the way, which was the trailhead for Red Fork Falls.  After about a mile drive we found it with a tree marked in red paint, and I parked the Jeep to begin our approximately .5 mile hike down into a ravine to the falls.  We had to cross two small streams along the way, before reaching our destination, which enters the falls from the top.    

(Click all images for larger photos)

Looking Down from the Top of the Falls

To view the falls from the base, we climbed down into the ravine, which was almost a vertical drop following the left side of the falls (going down).  Even though there was a lot of footholds and handholds with rocks, exposed roots, and limbs, I wouldn't recommend this climb for children.  It is not extremely unsafe due to the dense underbrush, but it can be a little intimidating, and longer legs to get from one foothold to the next is needed in a few places.  

When Jimmy and I made it to the bottom of the falls we took some photos of this hidden gem of Unicoi County. 

After resting at the falls for a few minutes we continued the climb downward even deeper into the ravine viewing a couple more smaller sets of falls.  I would guess the entire climb downward was around 150 feet or more of almost vertical drop.  Needless to say, my legs were a little sore the next day after climbing out of there.

Once we made it back to the Jeep we continued our ride up Unaka Mountain where the road soon turned to dirt, and when the road traversed across the north facing side of the mountain we ran into a lot of snow.  However, the Jeep did just fine, and soon we were at our next stop... a small trail (.3 mile) that leads to a rock outcropping on the north face of Unaka Mountain at an elevation of around 4550 feet.  From there we could see Stone Mountain below us, and Buffalo Mountain with Johnson City at it's base.  Looking to our right we could see Iron Mountain and Holston Mountain overlooking Elizabethton , and looking left was Erwin.  Thanks goes out to Jimmy for these awesome photos:        

Stone Mountain in Foreground, Followed by Little Mountain, and then Buffalo Mountain 

Beautiful View Looking Towards Erwin

Trail Leading to Rock Outcroppings

Our next stop was about a mile up the road called Unaka Mountain Overlook (known as Pleasant Garden on the topo map).  There was no hike here as we just stepped out of the Jeep for some great scenery at 5000 elevation.  At this point we were also very close to the summit of Unaka Mountain.  From this vantage point we were looking southwest into the mountains of North Carolina.  Jimmy took this photo and it turned out so good that I currently use it for my desktop background.  

Back in the Jeep we continued our ride, which was now going down the western side of the mountain for about another mile to our final stop... Beauty Spot, a grassy bald that is crossed by the Appalachian Trail.  Along the way (at Beauty Spot Gap) I found a nice little turnaround with a deep mud hole to put the Jeep to the test, so we rode through that a couple of times before continuing.  

It's understandable how Beauty Spot got it's name.  From there, we finished our ride down the mountain and exited the Unaka Mountain Wilderness in Erwin.           

Topo Map of Unaka Mountain

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