On July 4th we released a trail lover’s and backpacker’s atlas for a wild & historic national treasure, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Our trail atlas was designed for the modern trail user equipped with a GPS, but we focus our cartography on showing the rugged, historical, and ecological character of the park. These maps are beautiful, easy to read, and provide a pleasure as you wander over the pages and discover a new Smokies.
Release of the Great Smoky Mountains Trail Atlas
July 4th, 2008White Rocks and the Ridge Trail
June 23rd, 2008
Cumberland Gap Map
Distance: 16 Miles round-trip from trailhead
Difficulty: +++
Scenic Views: ++++
Elevation Relief: 1,800ft ^^
Ownership: Cumberland Gap, NPS
Google to trailheads
| Cumberland Gap Trail Map: $12 |
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The White Rocks overlook to Martin’s Fork on the Ridge Trail is the “power-date” of overnight trips in Cumberland Gap. You have a massive ascent, a capital view, and great camp at Martin’s Fork rustic cabin. The stadium rockhouse Sand Cave helps cool your engines and spirit. Trees bent dog-legged by mountain top winds great you like old friends. You are on the Ridge Trail.
The Boone Trace Magazine
June 16th, 2008
We are proud to have contributed to the recent Daniel Boone National Forest magazine, The Boone Trace. This comely tabloid-sized full-color magazine is the U.S. Forest Service’s official visitors’ guide and welcome publication with maps, photographs, and timely information. With over 700,000 acres, 100+ developed recreation sites, and 600+ miles of trail, this national forest provides ample opportunities to refresh, reconnect and challenge yourself in the great outdoors. The Boone’s Trace magazine is free and should be the first document you read before your adventure in the forest.
The opening paragraph reads, “Dense woodlands, towering cliffs and plunging waterfalls are just a few of the natural wonders found within the boundaries of this most unique forest. Extending across mostly rugged terrain, the forest provides breathtaking scenery, clean water, and an abundance of wood and wildlife.”
The national forest is now divided into four ranger districts; Cumberland, London, Redbird, and Stearns Ranger Districts. The Cumberland Ranger Districts has two of the most popular destinations in the forest, Cave Run Lake and the Red River Gorge. This knobby and cliff-rimmed country is home to historic iron furnaces, rare and endangered plant communities, great arches and sandstone formations, and the rugged Cliffty Wilderness Area.
The London Ranger District is defined by the Rockcastle and Laurel Rivers. Great recreation destinations include Bee Rock, Rockcastle Recreation Area,
Turkeyfoot, S-Tree, and the Laurel River Lake. While forest ownership less continuous in this district, many trails (official and unofficial) spline the ridges and creeks for hikers, mountain bikers, and motorized vehicles.
The Stearns Ranger District is home to the Beaver Creek Wilderness Area, Natural Arch Scenic Area, and numerous horse camps, shooting ranges and picnic areas. The area outlines the northern portion of the Big South Fork Recreation Area, which competes with the Red River Gorge for the title, “The Land of Many Arches.” The Redbird Ranger District is not contiguous with the other ranger districts, but off-road vehicle and mountain biking enthusiasts will find the Redbird Crest Trail a fine loop trail.
The Sheltowee Trace is forest’s unifying, long-distance trail, which connects the northern tip of forest with Tennessee’s Pickett State Park. This is the forest’s only National Recreation Trail and is the longest trail in Kentucky. Trail users can find more information at http://www.sheltoweetrace.com.
Magazine designed by Gwen Hensley of the forest service.
Trout Fishing in The Great Smokies
May 5th, 2008
One cannot fully appreciate the Smokies without fly fishing its abundant streams. From high mountains reaches to larger rivers at lower elevations, the park has nearly a thousand miles of fishable waters. The best experiences require hiking into remote portions of the park and finding clean, cold pools near fast moving rapids.
The brook trout are the only native species of game fish found here and are also known as “spec” or “speckled trout” by older locals. These native trout depend on clear and cold water to thrive and, where found, indicate a healthy, unmolested mountain stream. Although the history of logging and air pollution in the park have threatened brook trout populations, the park’s conservation effort has made the Great Smokies one of last great wild habitats for native fish in the eastern U.S.
Rainbow trout are the prized game fish in the park and are generally 6-10 inches in length. These fish were introduced here by logging camps in the early 1900s. Brown trout were imported from Europe and can reach over 2 feet in length, weigh 10 pounds, and live a dozen years. Brook trout live fewer than 3 years and rarely exceed 9 inches. Smallmouth and rock bass, both non-native, inhabit the lower rivers and streams along the park’s boundary.
“The Park’s Aquatic World
Most of the park’s larger streams begin as springs along the Appalachian Trail high on the crest of the Smokies. As these small streams travel down the mountainside, they are joined by others to form progressively larger waterways. As this happens, the streams change from steep, shady, rushing cascades, dotted with beautiful waterfalls at high elevations, to wider, slower-moving waterways with gentle gradients at lower elevations. The forest canopy no longer completely covers lower elevation streams.
At Leisures Edge: Maps in Video
April 29th, 2008During the early days of outrageGIS mapping, Boyd finished a one-hour video that explored once-segregated black parks in Kentucky. The historic parks found in the movie are Douglass Park in Lexington, Iroquois & Chickasaw Parks in Louisville, Stuart Nelson and Noble Parks in Paducah, and Cherokee State Resort Park in Aurora.