Wayne County High Point Trip Report
BM Miller; six areas within 3/4 mile of it; and two small areas 2 miles east-southeast of Round Cliff
Date: June 1, 2002
Author: Ken Oeser
partial completion
From the entrance to Pickett State Park on Highway 154, about 15 miles northeast of Jamestown, TN,
go north on Highway 154 1.0 mile and turn left onto gravel Spraughs Ridge Road, drive 3.4 miles to its west end,
and turn right onto Blackhouse Mountain Road (which starts about 3 miles south of the park entrance).
Drive north 1.0 mile and bear right, then go another 1.2 miles to a gravel road turning left off the main road.
Most ATV riders park here and ride in on the road, which soon turns to dirt. I drove my passenger car left
down this road, and it makes the trip shorter because at some point an ATV, mountain bike, or hiking will
be required. Go 0.7 mile and bear right, and pass a gate on the left at 1.2 miles, bear left at 1.4 miles,
bear right at 1.6 miles, and I parked at 3.6 miles. I could have probably driven farther, but the road gets sandier
and narrower. The road gets too tough for cars and normal 4WD driving, but can be tried as far as you wish.
This is at spot elevation 1723 on the topo.
From this parking spot, I pulled out my topo copy, compass, altimeter and mountain bike, and took the right
fork 1.5 miles (all distances estimated) and took the left fork, kept straight at 3.5 miles, and hit a 4 way
junction at 3.7 miles. Carpenter Rockhouse, an impressive rock shelter, is down to the right about 100 yards
from this point and is worth a visit. From the junction, continue northwest to mile 4.4. A faint dirt road
climbs to the right here and goes just south of the first point, a knob in the woods.
Go back to the junction and head northwest, passing a fork to the left at 4.45 miles. Continue northwest to
5.0 miles where the road starts downhill just past a flat area, and walk northeast about 0.1 mile to the top of
the hill, the second point.
Go back the way you came 0.5 mile and go southwest on the previously-mentioned fork. Go straight (west)
at 0.25 mile, and continue to 1.0 mile at BM Miller spot and contour on the left. I couldn't find the
benchmark but there was a large fallen tree at the high ground, so it could be there.
A faint road goes south 200 yards to area number 4. From BM Miller area, go west on the 'main' road to
1.1 miles and take a right fork, then go 200 feet to a crest. The 5th area is 200 feet west. Go back to the
main road and continue west to 1.4 miles to the 6th area. The highest area is just past a clearing, about 50
feet south of the road. Go another 0.2 mile west to 1.6 miles, pass a slick, muddy puddle taking up the
whole road, then the road turns left (south). As the road starts to descend, hike west 150 feet to the 7th
area at the top of the wooded ridge. Return to the road and go south to mile 2.2, then take a smaller dirt
road left and go 0.15 mile southeast to the highest road point. Area number 8 is just to the right in the woods.
Continue northeast and east on this road another 0.15 mile and hike south to the ridge and east to
the top, which is area number 9 of this trip.
This was 15 miles of mountain biking round trip, and I carried only one water bottle and no snacks. Its at
least a 2-bottle trip. The ATVers were friendly and several stopped to chat. Almost all of the roads I used
are on the topo as dashed line roads, so it was relatively easy to follow with the compass. It took me one
hour to bike out from the last point to the car, and this was walking my bike up most of the slight grades
encountered due to leg cramps. There was a lot of easy pedaling and coasting since the roads follow the ridges.
Now if I can get those other 4 areas on another trip.
Other sites to see in the area are the Twin Arches in Big South Fork, a 1.4 mile round trip hike, 2 natural
bridges in Pickett State Park, and Hazard Cave, and 100 foot deep rock shelter, sandstone cave.
These are all short hikes.