Big Sink Trail Riding Directions

Little Sink Falls during Spring flow

Big Sink Trail Riding Directions 

Big Bottom Unit A 

Bridgestone-Firestone Wildlife Management Area

Dana & Kenny Koogler

Saturday June 29, 2019

Big Bottom Unit Photos 

Big Bottom Sinkhole Photo Album

Above are links to photos of this area during Winter, Spring and Summer.These show you what is there and why you would ever want to ride there. It is a very fun place to explore with some trails easy and some very challenging. It is a great place to explore. 

**You must have a hunting/fishing license and WMA stamp to ride your ATV here.Same for all wildlife management areas in the state.  The game warden checks this area daily. If you ride without it they will no longer warn you, but will fine you.**

2021-2022 Hunting Season Dates

**Edited to Add-- This is open to Horseback Riding Also! Scroll to the Bottom for special horseback Riding info

**You cannot ride in here from the end of September through mid January. Be sure to check the dates from season to season as they may not be exactly the same.**

Big Bottom Access --(North side of the Caney Fork River)

Driving Directions :

From Sparta, TN at the Intersection of Hwy 111 and SR 70S

Travel 2.8 miles south on Hwy 111
Turn LEFT onto Old Union Road follow Old Union Road for 2.9 miles to a 
RIGHT turn onto River Hill Road then go 1 mile to a bridge crossing the Caney Fork River
Cross the bridge straight ahead.  Once across the road name changes to Big Bottom Road
Drive Big Bottom Rd for 1 mile to a second bridge crossing of the Caney Fork River.
Cross the bridge and the road name changes to Whites Cave Rd.
Drive 1 mile on Whites Cave Rd to a pull off parking area on the right.

This is the trailhead for the North Side Access 

The address on Google maps is and I have included the GPS waypoints
5142-5100 Co Hwy 2190
Below is the only photo I have of the trailhead right now

There are two gates. One is closed all the time. One is open on the right that goes straight back to the Caney Fork River. If it is closed it is because it isn't ok to ride there that day.  Restricted months listed at the top. 

Trail Directions for Big Sink  from North Access--Big Bottom Unit A

From the parking area for this access along Whites Cave Rd go through the open gate
and soon the Caney Fork River will be on your right.  You drive this rocky trail for a little under 2 miles before you bear right toward the river to ford it.  
If the river is running high you will need to turn around and do this another time.
The Caney Fork is a wide, forceful river and to be taken seriously.
Water levels can rise rapidly here. If you ever find yourself on the opposite side and unable to ford back it is imperative to know an alternate exit route on the same side you are on.

Once across you will need to turn right on the main trail and follow it out for 1.50 miles to wher it intersects a trail going left and up near the mouth of Big Sink.  Again... the trail appears to go directly up the middle of Big Sink, but peters out in 1/2 mile.  The upper trail will ride the rim of Big Sink and bring you out at the intersection of Little Sink Branch and Moore Branch. You will come out at Little Sink Falls.  Read the directions below in the description for accessing this area from Mooneyham and the trails on that side.  Once you get to this intersection I just mentioned the trail description is the same.  Photos are included to show the features and make them more easy to recognize.  I have highlighted the description of the intersection in the lower directions in red. 

Mooneyham Access (South side of Caney Fork River) 

Driving Directions from Spencer, TN

From the Intersection of Hwy 111 with SR 30
Head East on SR 30 for 4 miles to where it intersects SR 285
Turn RIGHT on SR 285 and follow it for 3.70 miles to where it bears 
LEFT (SR 30 Bears RIGHT) 
Head toward Mooneyham on SR 285 for 5.80 miles 
Turn LEFT onto Graveyard Ridge Road which is just past
Midway Church of Christ also on the LEFT
Drive about 1 mile back Graveyard Ridge Road 
Keep your eyes peeled for a parking spot on the right.
You will have to watch along this road for pull overs as things change from time to time
thanks to logging operations in the area.  

Trail Directions for Big Sink from South Access at Mooneyham

From where you parked approx. 1 mile in along Graveyard Ridge Road
Continue out Graveyard Ridge Road heading north about 0.50 miles further to where the road Y's  Bear LEFT here where the road now becomes more of a trail/dirt track.  Head North/Northwest for 1.80 miles you will pass a shack on the right  

Below is a photo of the shack

From here continue on this trail for 0.30 miles and the trail gets rougher and heads down here through Sally Gap.  Go another 0.4 miles and watch for a trail that bears LEFT and back UP HILL
This is the one you want. If you stay straight you will come out at the bottom of the hill  in another 0.3 miles at a trail that turns left and starts up the mouth of Big Sink.   It plays out in only 0.50 miles.  You will need to be on the trail that takes you along the rim of Big Sink.
The uphill trail winds round through the woods and in about 0.25 miles passes a junked out car on the right of the trail.   Follow this trail straight for about a mile and you will come out at creek level again alongside Little Sink Falls.  It will be below you to your right.  
It sits at the intersection of Moore Branch with Little Sink Branch. Photo of Little Sink Falls at the top of this entry.

It is a good place to stop and see the falls.  

The trail continues up through Big Sink for another 0.60 miles to where you will encounter another shack on your RIGHT of the trail.  
Picture of Shack # 2 Below

Continue straight up Big Sink on the main trail and in another 0.40 miles you will be at the waypoint given on Tennessee Landforms for Big Sink 123' .  The GPS coordinate for it is 
Click the link and it will take you to the page of info on it complete with maps.

35.786190,-85.351540

This is the actual sinkhole marked, but you are driving up a larger sinkhole around it

Stop here if you want to see the Mouse Hole Cave.  

Photo of Mouse Hole Cave below

Go straight on the trail and it gets very rough here and may have downed trees. 
Watch for another chimney pile just to the right of the trail. This was another home site.
It is about 0.25 miles from Mouse Hole Cave.  Continue south on the trail through the heart of Big Sink and in0.40 miles you will come to the back and Big Sink Falls which runs year round.

There are downed trees along this portion of the trail.  We cut and cleared the trail in one spot, but we had to leave the trail and go to the left and into the woods as a work around.  This puts you near a massive boulder where the trail resumes, but turns and goes up and left out of the back of Big Sink.  Here if you want to see the Big Sink Falls you have to park and walk over to it.  It is behind that big boulder dropping off the back cliff of the sinkhole.

Below is an image of Big Sink Falls

The trail up and out of Big Sink is challenging and rugged.  It is also through some very pretty scenery of a hemlock forest and rocky bluffs and limestone formations.
It is only for experienced riders who don't mind climbs going up over rocky ledges.   It runs for about 1.25 to 1.50 miles upward to plateau level.  The trail intersects here and splits to go left or right.   The waypoint for that is about here 35.780620,-85.339695

That being said to make a loop back to the trail you started on you would need to go left and work your way around to here.   35.792232,-85.338580 in 0.75 miles    

This is the way point for the trail you started on and a right turn would send you back Graveyard Ridge Road  in the vicinity of where you parked.


We parked on Jerry Road  last time and this was good except when we tried to go across to Graveyard Ridge the access was gated off.    

If you come out on Jerry Road from Big Sink you have better parking, but you would have to 
turn right at the top of the trail on plateau level and follow it out 1.50 miles along Jerry Road toward Hwy 285 (Mooneyham Rd) and then it is around a mile from Jerry Road to Graveyard Ridge along the hardtop road.    If you have a vehicle tagged for road use you are 100% ok to do this.  If you do not you are taking a chance of a ticket, but the likelihood of it is slim.   

Horseback Riders-- This would be a great option for you since the parking is 100% better on Jerry Road.   It is a dirt road between Long Rock Road and Graveyard Ridge Road that doesn't always show up named on maps.  It would be easy for you to cut across from Jerry Road to Graveyard Ridge to ride since even with the gate closed a rider could easily step around the gate on horseback and continue.   It is just an obstruction to motorized vehicles when closed.