Cristian Baca
Trip: OBED Truck-in
Frozen Head State Park
964 Flat Fork Rd.
Wartburg, TN “`
Date: April 5-7, 2024
Author: Cristian Baca
History:
The Obed Wild and Scenic River looks much the same today as it did when the first white settlers strolled its banks in the late 1700s. While meagerly populated due to poor farming soil, the river was a hospitable fishing and hunting area for trappers and pioneers. Today, the Obed stretches along the Cumberland Plateau and offers visitors a variety of outdoor recreational opportunities. The Obed’s more than 300 climbing routes range from easy to moderate to difficult.
We camped in acampsite at nearby Frozen Head State Park in Morgan County, TN. The park, situated in the Crab Orchard Mountains, contains some of the highest mountains in Tennessee west of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Frozen Head State Park consists of approximately 24,000 acres, all but 330 acres of which is classified as a state natural area. The terrain varies between 1,300 ft to over 3,000 ft with 14 peaks at or over 3,000 feet. Frozen Head the park’s namesake, is the highest peak at 3,324 feet. The mountain’s name comes from its snow-capped appearance in colder months. The park’s highest elevations allow for unobstructed views of East TN’s 3 main geographical features: the Cumberland Plateau, the Tennessee Valley, and the Great Smoky Mountains.
What is now Frozen Head State Park was once part of the vast Cherokee hunting grounds that covered much of East TN and southeastern Kentucky. The area was ceded to the United States government in 1805 with the signing of the Third Treaty of Tellico. The first Euro-American settlers arrived shortly thereafter, although they largely avoided the rugged mountains in favor of the more fertile bottomlands along the upper Emory River.
A large part of Morgan State Forest burned in a forest fire in 1952, and the forestry division transferred the lands to the parks division 18 years later for the establishment of Frozen Head State Park. In 1988, most of park’s acreage was classified as a state natural area, restricting development to a 330-acre area around the confluence of Flat Fork and Judge Branch.
Experience:
OBED is a great scout outing to go on with your troop or your family. OBED can be a truck in or a backpacking trip but this trip was a truck-in. We camped in nearby Frozen Head State Park campground. OBED has many hiking opportunities with an amazing panoramic resting area at the top. OBED offers ranger- led climbing activities (which everyone participated in). There are a lot of other fun activities like fishing (which some of us participated in but didn’t catch anything). OBED also has a junior ranger program for anyone interested – the troop chose to climb for about 3 hours this trip but maybe next time. After climbing we headed back to camp for dinner (hamburgers and chips and Milo’s sweet tea). We took a 1.7 mile hike with some amazing views. We also stopped at Bucee’s in Pigeon Forge for dinner on the way down and lunch on the way back the next day. I highly recommend this trip for anyone who’s ready for an adventure.I believe OBED is the best trip we’ve been on this year (2024).
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frozen_Head_State_Park
https://www.nps.gov/obed/planyourvisit/rockclimbing.htm
https://www.nps.gov/obed/learn/kidsyouth/junior-ranger.htm
https://www.nps.gov/obed/planyourvisit/rockclimbing.htm
https://www.nps.gov/obed/learn/kidsyouth/junior-ranger.htm
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