Manchester, Tennessee (South Cumberland State Park & Natural Bridge State Natural Area)

We left Luray, Virginia September 26, 2018 and took two days to travel 520 miles south and west to Manchester, Tennessee. The main reason we chose this particular route, and place to stop, was to attend a concert in the underground Cumberland Caverns on September 30^th (more on this in a separate post). Manchester is located halfway between Nashville and Chattanooga, and since 2002 has been the host city for the annual Bonnaroo Music Festival where the city’s population swells from 10,000 to nearly 100,000 for the four day-event. Unfortunately our timing wasn’t right for Bonnaroo, but we were there for a week and much to our delight there was an abundance of hiking opportunities in the area.

Two of the places we hiked are pictured below (additional hikes will be in separate posts).

South Cumberland State Park, 25 miles from our RV park, and located on the Cumberland Plateau, is a newer state park, filled with meadows, waterfalls, beautiful views, and old growth trees. We took the hike to Greeter Falls, which required a long descent on a spiral staircase, and Boardtree Falls, a trail with far fewer hikers, but with falls that were equally as rewarding.

On a separate outing we drove about 30 miles to the Sewanee Natural Bridge, part of the 3-acre Natural Bridge State Natural Area. A 25-feet high natural sandstone arch with a span of 50 feet, Sewanee Natural Bridge is essentially a giant sinkhole partially eroded to form a large stone bridge. 

Natural Bridge, Virginia

On the last day of October, while still in Virginia, we drove to Rockbridge County to visit the Natural Bridge. Centuries ago waters from the James River carved out a gorge in the mountainous limestone terrain, forming a natural arch 215 feet high with a span of 90 feet. Although the Natural Bridge has been designated a Virginia Historic Landmark as well as a National Historic Landmark, it is not under the auspices of either the State or National Park systems, and it cost $18 per adult to access the 6-acres it resides in. Dan and I grumbled about this, it seemed like quite an unfair gouge to the public, but in the end we spent the money, and a few hours, checking it out. Autumn, and a noticeable chill, were definitely in the air that day, making for a brisk walk along the paved path that ends at Lace Falls. The color changes were pretty, and the reflection of the trees along Cedar Creek made for some interesting pictures. Even though the designated "hiking" trail isn't very long, there are some decent climbs up and down a set of stairs, and we ended up working our legs some. The arch itself is very impressive, and I'm glad we decided to take the time to see this natural wonder.