Elk Gap Tunnel

Above:  rusty metal tie down for the spike plates

Elk Gap Tunnel

Sunday February 4, 2024

Dana & Kenny Koogler 

Photos are Here   Royal Blue Waterfalls & Elk Gap Tunnel

     I have mentioned on my updates page  that my knees will  need replacing.   I did not mention  that I have been super sick the past week.     I was in bed a lot with shortness of breath.    Kenny had to work Saturday.   I had Friday and Saturday to finish getting well.   Sunday we needed to get out and do something fun. Just the two of us.    The weather turned out to be really nice.   It was chilly, but the sun was out. The skies were blue. Waterfalls are gushing now.   Our plan was to visit a couple waterfalls in Campbell County. We'd then go on to Elk Gap Tunnel.  It is situated near a church so we'd have to wait until services were over.      

      We stopped by Royal Blue to park and unload. We'd hit these few falls we hadn't visited in awhile.   We were there in Summer with friends, but the waterfalls were just damp rocks. 

We parked at Eagle Rock Campground.   It is huge and so nice!  I hardly recognized the place it has changed so much.     

Flatwoods Falls 

Above and below:  Eagle Rock Campground and Big Foot. Top photo shows our machine.

Below photo is a little closer view of Big Foot.  

        We used the RZR today to get the distances down to where I could handle them.   I hiked 4 miles a month or so back.  It was excruciating, but today with cutting that distance in half I was alright.     We parked at Eagle Rock Campground and headed out from there.  Flatwoods Falls is not far away.   It is the second right turn off Flatwoods Road head northeast.   

         We pulled up at the trail to the waterfall. Kenny had to investigate which way we'd go down.

He fussed over me like a mother hen.  The terrain was steep and slippery, but by taking my time I was ok.  I picked my path and was comfortable.    There used to be a set of wooden steps descending to the base of Flatwoods Falls.  They were very slick in wet or icy weather.   They eventually rotted.  I took photos of what was left of them.  

Above:  The Flatwoods Falls from the base with the Go Pro

Above: This photo does little to illustrate the steep, slippery terrain to the base of the falls.  You're pretty close to the edge going down that slope.  

Below is a little bit of the step ruins.  The remainder of them is a pile of poles and rotten lumber down near that clump of trees. 

Above:  A little of what remains of the steps. 

Above: Flatwoods Falls from the base-- Canon Camera. Manual setting. 

Below is a shot of the upper portion of the falls. 

Below is a video of the beautiful Flatwoods Falls including the upper drop.

     We enjoyed checking out the falls with some nice flow on them.   We did not stick around too long.   I began my careful trudge back up.  I have become a huge fan of uphill.   It is much easier on the knees!    

       We headed on down Ollis Creek Trail in the direction of Thirteen Hollow Falls.  

We hoped to see that and add to it Patricia Falls which is in the next drainage over.   I wasn't at all sure if we'd find Patricia Falls.  I had the way points, but knew it was going to be a short bushwhack.    We'd have to see about that.

   On our way along Ollis Creek Trail we noticed a couple things.    It is a nice trail, but it was very muddy and eroded.   Its condition made worse by very recent logging above the trail.  The trail is far enough above the old Lafollette Reservoir that the silt and mud don't end up in the water enough to change the pretty green color.  It does end up in Ollis Creek at other points along the way.   Yellow Branch Falls was more churned up and muddy than usual.   The trail looks horrendous in the vicinity of the logging.  I hope I am wrong, but I doubt they'll do anything to clean up behind themselves.  I would love to see the TWRA plant some trees back to grow in place of what was cut.  

     Another thing is that we could tell where parts of the trail have been raised above the former track.   It moves it out of the damaged areas to give those a chance to rest.   One cool thing we saw on that part of the ride was a huge bull elk!  He was alone and looked pretty healthy to me.   He was still sporting a full rack of antlers!   He looked to be an eight to ten pointer.    Kenny remarked this was the furthest out we'd ever spotted one in Campbell County.   I would agree.

     We have had some very cool wildlife encounters at Royal Blue.  We see lots of elk. We see turkeys, deer, hawks, herons, and one day we had a  bobcat sighting. He was not scared of us one bit and sat in the woods near us just relaxing until he walked calmly away. The prettiest thing we've seen was a large black wolf with golden eyes!   It pays to visit different places and keep a sharp look out. 

      

Below is a very grainy cell phone picture of a bull elk. It is in there, but you have to look closely.   Center of the image.  

Below is an image taken by me on another trip that most closely resembles the bull elk we saw today minus the trees. This was also taken at Royal Blue, but up near the tower. 

Above:  a photo of the bob cat we saw at Royal Blue. He's trotting away from me.  

Thirteen Hollow Falls 

      We didn't take long to reach the left turn off Ollis Creek Trail for Thirteen Hollow.  I had the waypoints for Patricia Falls with us.   I had studied the map and shown it to Kenny.  Thirteen Hollow is on one side of a V shaped confluence of Laurel Creek.  Patricia Falls is a scenic fifteen foot drop adjacent to it on the other side of the V.   It was found and documented by none other than Daniel Jack Hutchison!   A nice little find.  Neither of these falls would be worth a special trip on their own, but while in the area, both are worth a look when we've had ample rain.

     Kenny pulled past the point where we usually parked and climbed down the embankment to reach Thirteen Hollow Falls.  I asked him why?  He said he just had a feeling we needed to suss it out a bit further.   He pointed out all the times we've made things harder than they had to be. I couldn't argue with that.  He jumped out of the machine and took off walking.   Meanwhile I plugged in the coordinates for the falls and let the GPS be getting oriented.   I no more than had it acquire the satellites when he popped back up and said "Let's go this way!".  He had indeed found a FAR simpler way to reach the falls!   I went ahead and changed the GPS over to looking for Patricia Falls so we could do that next.   I looked around and we were walking along an old road bed!  We left it and walked gradually down the bank toward the falls.  In no time we were there at the base!  He was right.  We had indeed been making the approach to this waterfall far harder than it need be!    Well done! 

     

  Directions to Thirteen Hollow Falls : 

Click the link at the top of the paragraph in this trip report. It will open to the TN landforms page about the falls and give you maps and the waypoints for it. It also shows up on lifetime maps but only says something like RB Waterfall.   

Follow Ollis Creek Trail out from Flatwoods Rd heading east.  

You will come to a trail sign for Thirteen Hollow.  Turn LEFT onto this trail and drive 

less than 1/2 mile to where the trail fords Laurel Creek.   On your RIGHT is a pull off.

Park here. There is a sign indicating foot travel only beyond this point.  You will find yourself on on old logging road that parallels Laurel Creek briefly.  Don't follow the road more than 75 feet, but continue along it listening for the sound of the falls. You are parked within sight of the brink of them.  Leave the old road and walk gradually down the slope.  The woods are pretty open here in any season.   Follow the terrain down and you will be able to scramble down the bank to the base of the falls within sight of them.   

Above: This is the ford of Laurel Creek on Thirteen Hollow Trail.  The falls is 200 feet from this to the left. 

Below:  Thirteen Hollow Trail from the point where we parked looking toward its far end.   We continued in that direction to make a loop and avoid backtracking the very muddy, rutted Ollis Creek Trail. 

13 Hollow Trail above

Below: 13 Hollow Falls  is 26 feet high

Below is a video of Thirteen Hollow Falls.  I began filming at the ford of the creek for two reasons.  1. It is a pretty spot and it was quiet and serene.  2. To give you an idea what the spot looks like in case you want to go see these falls on your ride.    Definitely worth turning aside for when we've had adequate rain. 

Patricia Falls

     Next we climbed back up the bank to the old road and decided to try to find and view Patricia Falls which is on the next drainage over.    The old road headed in that direction.  We were pleasantly surprised to find it was very open and in good condition. The going was easy.  It was level and took us right to the falls.  The problem then became getting to the base.    It is a fifteen foot falls with two drops.  One is about six feet and the other nine feet high.    We studied the possibility of going up past it, fording the stream and descending to the base on the opposite side.  That turned out to be an even worse task.     The stream is an easy rock hop, but the terrain on the far side goes from gently sloping to cliffing out.      The climb down from the old road on the near side has a ten foot drop requiring rope. We did not bring any.  Kenny was already very stressed out as to the chance of me harming myself.  He did not want me to do further damage to my knees.   I could see the falls from here and quite honestly it wasn't worth the effort today to climb down to see it up close.    He got a couple photos from the brink and a short snippet of video.     If you click the link above this paragraph it takes you to the TN landforms info page on it.  You can easily figure from my description how to FIND It.  Getting down there will be up to you.    We will return to reach the base once my knee surgery is healed, and we've had ample rain.   It is worth seeing based upon Daniel Jack Hutchison's photo of it.    I would add it together with a future trip to visit several falls in one day.  It is only about 0.10 mile walk on the old road from Thirteen Hollow Falls to where you can see Patricia Falls down over the bank.  

Future trip to reach the base I would go to Thirteen Hollow and work my way downstream and then back upstream to where I could see both drops.

       

Above: a shot of Patricia Falls from the bluff above it.  

Below are two shots of the old road we walked to reach it from 13 Hollow Falls

The photo above is looking back in the direction of 13 Hollow

Below the image is where the road continues past Patricia Falls.  Easy traveling. 

 Below is a short clip of Patricia Falls taken by Kenny.

  We walked back to the RZR and ate lunch standing around.  It was a quick bite and then we were on our way.  We headed out the remainder of the short 13 Hollow trail. We passed some pretty old tailing ponds from the mining days.    The water was jade green.  We did not see any water birds or raptors today.  These old ponds are surprisingly clean and sometimes have fish in them. They are clean enough for birds to find prey and build nests. 

Above and below:  Tailing ponds at Royal Blue 

Above: looking out the windshield of the RZR at the muddy trail.  

Below is a short snippet of the ride 

Eagle Rock Campground Notes

      It didn't take us long to get back to the truck.  We wanted to load up and head to see Elk Gap Tunnel.  The morning worship service was over, but they have evening service at six p.m. so we had to try to time our visit between the two.   Pioneer is only ten minutes further away so it wasn't a problem to work that out. 

     Note to self:  Eagle Rock Campground is very nice looking. They have full hook ups for RV camping. They also have cabin rentals in different sizes.   Two tiny homes. Two large cabins. Three very small  "two butt" cabins.      It is good to know because sometimes we want to stay, but don't want to de-Winterize our Fifth Wheel camper for only a night or two.    It would be fun to come here in Spring with the camper.   Royal Blue is actually a great Spring wildflower destination.  My Spring wildflower season is looking highly suspect.  I HAVE plans, but they will likely need to be modified based upon my surgery and mobility.

       

          

Elk Gap Tunnel

   We  arrived in Pioneer at 2:30 p.m.  We parked and climbed down the bank 

and across a shallow stream.   The abandoned railroad tracks are just across the stream.   We walked 0.30 miles up the tracks to where we found the tunnel's south portal.   Along the way we passed a couple old chimneys. The slopes around us to the east were covered in kudzu vines now dead and gray from the Winter.    We noticed a board laid across the small stream like a bridge.

 We came to one point where water had seriously ponded up along the left of the tracks.   

A short distance further and a stream flowed down out of the hills and split into two directions. Part of its flow went toward the mouth of the tunnel and through it.  The other part flowed opposite and into a pair of culverts and under the tracks.    

 

           Before we got to the point where the stream split its flow we could see the mouth of the tunnel.

Vines now dead and brown hung from the top of it like drapes.    Elk Gap Tunnel is not part of the old Rat Hole Line.  It is something separate.    It was the old Kentucky & Ohio  or K & O Railroad.  I have a link here you can click to read a fascinating article from the historic archives of Campbell County. It is about taking the train from Knoxville to Jellico on this railroad.    

    The article specifically mentions the Elk Gap Tunnel. It says it is 1,799 feet long and is the highest point between Knoxville and the state line with Kentucky.   It mentions it having a curve to the tunnel and tracks. This I agree with, but the measure of 1,799 may be accurate, but I dispute that.  I measured it at 1854 feet or slightly longer.      Interesting things we saw along the tracks included a switch to a side track that is only partially disabled.   We saw massive rusty bolts and nuts, railroad spikes, tie down clips.   Equipment for maintaining and building the tracks.   Sections of the disabled switch lay there having been removed, but not discarded.

      The marker for the switch stands like a sentry there after all these years of being idle.  

 It was apparent walking through the tunnel that the flow of the stream gets significant enough to wash mats of debris and chunks of logs into the tunnel!   

   

above: South Portal of Elk Gap tunnel. Notice here there is water flowing on BOTH sides of the tracks!  

Above: North portal of Elk Gap Tunnel.  I can't find any way except through the tunnel to view this portal.  Finally getting here confirmed this. 

Above: Looking at the railroad cut just beyond the North Portal. Water flowing in a stream on the left side of the tracks now.  

Above: Approaching the north end of the tunnel from inside.

Below:  an image of when we could see light at the end and you could notice the curve in the tunnel.  You can glimpse Kenny far ahead of my slow ass with his flashlight and annoyingly healthy knees!  You can see the left of the image that there is a stream flowing inside. 

Above: entering the south portal of Elk Gap Tunnel. It is all bricked.  

Above:  The tracks approaching Elk Gap Tunnel. to the left is the stream flowing out of the holler and splitting in two directions.  It is shown in the video and illustrates it better.

Above: the switch to the side track 

Above: We have approached the side track.   You can see the tunnel mouth in the distance. Hwy 297 is to the right.  The tunnel passes beneath it. 

    We hiked on through the tunnel. It was shorter than Indian Gap Tunnel and not quite as wet and squishy.  It was still wet, but more slippery!   We counted nine cut outs in the side walls. Seven on the west and two on the east side. I learned those are called "refuges" and are put there as a place for railroad workers to step safely aside while doing track maintenance if a train approaches.     Railroad spikes were driven into the western wall at intervals.  I'm not sure why. Perhaps a way of measuring distance and spacing the refuges out? 

     Kenny mentioned on the return hike that this tunnel was further underground than Indian Gap had been.  I didn't much like thinking on that and asked him to be quiet about it. 

That was a real "Yikes!" moment.   We made it safely through and back without any trouble.

It was quite satisfying to finally have seen it. It was worth the effort.   I will say that I think I'm one and done with this tunnel.   

      We made our way back to the truck.  I was pleased to have been able to get out and walk today.  It wasn't pain free, but easier than hiking four miles.  Half that distance today didn't cause me any trouble.   It had to be good for my lungs to help clear and heal them to get some fresh air and move around.  

      Back at the truck we headed for home and I dutifully iced my knees while sipping hot coffee with two fat cats piled up on me.    It was a great day! 

    Below is a video of our hike through the tunnel.  It is shorter than the video of Indian Gap Tunnel. I edited it pretty heavily.  I  only videotaped through and the North portal. Not the return trip.    Nothing new to see on the trip back.

     

 Thanks Butch for the info on the tunnel.  Far as I can see my video of the Elk Gap Tunnel is the only one out there on YouTube.  

            

         

Royal Blue WMA Finding Waterfall Branch Falls

Vibrant green moss on a log near Hickory Creek Falls 

Royal Blue WMA

 Finding Waterfall Branch Falls  &  Wandering in the Wilderness

Sunday March 6, 2016

Kenny & Dana Koogler

Pictures are here beginning with frame 307

Waterfall Branch Falls Pix

    Sunday we got up and packed things to get ready to go four wheeling to Royal Blue.
We didn't have a great time the last go round on account of the über deep snow in Campbell County.
We wanted some redemption.  We had also tried before to locate Waterfall Branch Falls and 
did not succeed.  We had done some more studying on it and had a map and figured this time 
we might find it.   We headed up the road toward the Huntsville exit.  Recently there was a landslide on I-75 which we would have to use to get there.  The access point we needed is right by the interstate.  We were able to continue. The state troopers are detouring through traffic at Caryville, but
if you are not going any further than Huntsville they let you go on past. At the Huntsville exit
they have another trooper and a command post and you will   either exit or detour there. 

           We pulled in and parked and pretty soon we were under way.  The day was cool, but warming up pretty fast.   It was sunny and clear skies.  We hit the Ollis Creek trail first. It was pretty, but 
a lot of it is like a river of peanutbutter mud.   It takes you high above the old LaFollette Reservoirs 1 and 2.  You eventually come out behind the old dog pound and a left turn takes you up the road past the Ivydell Snake Handling church.  No kidding!   Before leaving the Ollis Creek Trail we stopped to see Yellow Branch Falls which is below the trail. You have to park and climb down to see it.

 Yellow Branch Falls

After Yellow Branch Falls we briefly turned aside up Thirteen Hollow Trail and hunted up Thirteen Hollow Falls. It is hard to spot. You can't see it at all from the trail and it is a little hard to hear!
We finally found a spot to climb down through the rhodo and walk up the creek a short distance to it. It is a very pretty falls. Today there was a rainbow in it!  It sits in a neat rock amphitheater.
Like last visit here we found a spot closer to the falls to climb back UP the bank and out. 
It was not bad going up it, but I wouldn't have wanted to go down it. 

We had to stop out at the end of Campbell Split trail to check waypoints and the little map Kenny printed off of the turns we needed to make to
find this falls.   We continued.  Finally we came out near the point where before I believed we were very close to finding the falls.  I thought we missed it by not going down in the creek here and walking up it.  Turned out that was not the case. It is close, but not as close as I had thought. The first time we tried to find it we continued on out some trails that were not completed.  They were also not mapped and so we turned around that day and headed back.  We more or less gave up the search the first time confused over what had we done wrong?

             Today we had a little more info and the trail system had at last been finished up in the vicinity.  Maybe today would be the day we'd find it?!  We watched the terrain and it looked pretty promising.  Rugged and a drop off to our right.  We came upon an old trail barely visible to the right. It was clearly foot traffic only with a ton of tiny saplings growing up in it.   It looked more like an animal path, but we parked and got out to follow it. We could hear the falls as soon as we stopped. 
We bushwhacked forward with the GPS indicating it was down there. We were right atop it.  
We came to this vantage first.  Right at the brink of the falls with a glimpse of the top part of it. 

Top of Waterfall Branch Falls. It is 22 ft high. 

           Kenny and I went on ahead and found a way down off the bluff a little further out. It was not easy, but we have surely done much harder things.  It was a matter of taking our time and side hilling it across in the direction of the falls. Sideways and gradually down.   A few saplings and things to hold onto made it not too sketchy.  Finally we stood before the falls! We found it! We had also found a way to the base!  

Kenny making his way toward the falls. You can see here more what the terrain was like.

It is a very pretty gorge this falls lies in. 

 Standing directly in front of Waterfall Branch Falls 

Looking back up at the bluff where we stood moments ago.

  Once we got done here we climbed back out of the hole and back to the RZR.   We continued round on the trail. I think it was Trail #20.  Louse Creek Trail it was called. It was very pretty. High on the ridge line at first with some partial views then down off the ridge gradually like a rollercoaster going down through the hollers.   We finally came to the bottom of the mountain and  were by a good sized stream.   We forded and on the other side we stopped to check it out.

 Some sort of man made structure crossed this stream in the past.  

 This was the end of it. There is pipe embedded in it and also the remnants of the pipe across the creek. 

Guess this must be "Louse Creek"  

          We continued forward and before too long came to a trail intersection and got our first whiff of trouble.    We realized at the trail intersection we had forgotten a map of the entire trail system. 

All we had was one little snippet and the GPS and our knowledge of past trips. The problem was 

I had NEVER been to this area before. Kenny had been once, but had little recall of it.   We had a brief dispute over which way we needed to turn, but finally I prevailed and got him to believe me.

I reasoned which way the points of the compass were and we needed to head in a northerly direction.

We had been trying to head toward Town Rock next.     I knew it was north/ northwest of where we had been at Waterfall Branch.     We rambled around, took a wrong turn.. turned around. I was beginning to be distressed.   We stopped and ate lunch.  That helped some.  Kenny showed me on the GPS that if we stayed with Pond Ridge Trail it would eventually lead us round to Hickory Creek Falls and that area we knew a lot more about.   

             Pond Ridge Trail  #22 was a total mess.  It was narrow in places and you could see off both sides easily!  Yow!  Also it was one deep rut and mud hole after another.   We had not installed the winch on the RZR yet and that was cause for concern. Riding just the two of us .. no one to help us if we got stuck and no winch!  We got to one place I thought we weren't going to get out of.  Yet thankfully we did and boy were we glad!    We kept going and finally started to see signs of civilization. We saw a few houses and people.  It was reassuring to see even that much.  I could also see that Kenny was correct and that the GPS was indeed leading us out of there.   

     One very neat thing in all this was that during our wanderings we passed something on the right that caught both our eyes. It was a green body of water that sat there in the gloom of a rock outcrop glimmering.  We stopped to check it out.  It was exquisite.   

 Above and below.. views of the spring pond.  

Worth wandering the wilderness for!

    We eventually came to Hickory Creek Lane and more houses.   We turned and started out along a dirt road then Kenny remember this was not right.   We ended up somewhere in this part out in a field by Hickory Creek under what was either an electrical wire or telephone wire with it rubbing the top of the RZR! He backed it up and turned around and headed the other way.   We had seen these old bridge abutments and gone past them.   I could see across the stream that the trail appeared to continue.  We got down to creek level and went up over the bank and continued.  The area was looking familiar more and more.  I looked around as we passed a small stream and the words "Small Hollow Falls" echoed in my head. I had the feeling we had been here before.   There was a waterfall up that little holler.    We rambled on through the hemlock woods and finally arrived at Hickory Creek Falls.  There is a big galled area above it that always has trash and human sign there.  Someone put Wayne's photo up .. whoever he is... and stuck it to a tree.   

      I was never so glad to see any place.  I had been filled with tension.  Now the dam broke and 

Kenny came round to my side to hug me and comfort me until it subsided.  It was just tears over the relief at having gotten back out of unfamiliar territory.  We should be ok now.  I got out to go see Hickory Creek Falls.    

Looking across at Hickory Creek Falls 

    We continued on up the trail and eventually came to an intersection. Kenny asked me if I wanted to go on to Town Rock. I said yes.   We decided though the gravel road would be a little longer we'd do that since we'd make better time on it.  We started out and as we came up over a bank almost ran into a settling pond!  It didn't look right so we started heading out the trail.. but I still knew something was off.   I told Kenny I knew those settling ponds were on the wrong side of us.  We were heading the wrong way.  I was done then.  I told him let's just get righted and get on out of here. 

He agreed and that is what we did.  We MUST remember the map. He had remarked that even if we'd had the map with us much of the trails would not have been on it since trail 20, 22, and 23 were new.

Out the road we went heading back in the direction of the truck and the parking area.

          On the way out we were flagged down by a dad and his little girl. A side by side had passed them and run them nearly out into the ditch! The father got stopped just shy of a 3 1/2 foot drop off!

We stopped to see what we could do for them.  Thankfully a big vehicle and a couple nice young men stopped also. The heavy vehicle and the boys long chain got the fellow unstuck. Kenny helped them hook it up while I took the little girl and got back to a safe place where we could watch without being in the way.    She was a cute little gal.  I asked her if the whole thing scared her and she said yes!

Out for a Sunday drive on a pretty day on the backroads and nearly get run in a ditch.

They were all set so we shook hands and headed out.  

            It was good to see the truck again.  Back at home later in the evening I found all the Royal Blue maps and Sundquist maps!  I put them in a ziplock bag and put them in the RZR.   Before I did I checked them and the new trails WERE on the map. Hand drawn in by Kenny himself.  I showed him.  No more leaving without them.  Also realized that the DeLorme Gazetteer would have helped a lot if we'd brought it.  Need to start taking it along every time.   At home the GPS data was able to help me understand where we'd been and what we'd done.   We also need to get that winch on there ASAP!  

            Below is a short video clip of Thirteen Hollow Falls.