Unicoi Turnpike National Historical Trail. Location: Coker Creek Welcome Center 10 AM. This 3-mile hike is mostly downhill and is full of history. This is an easy hike, and it will be fun to explore what is left of the CCC Rolling Stones Camp. We will meet at the Coker Creek Welcome Center, leave some vehicles at the bottom of the trail along Joe Brown Highway (a gravel USFS road), then drive to the top of the ridge at Unicoi Gap. We will follow the BMT southbound a quarter mile, then head down the Unicoi Turnpike Trail. This trail is a deep wagon rut which was used extensively first by the Cherokee Indians, then by militia during the War of 1812, then by settlers and gold seekers, and finally by us. The trail was the route to bring the Cherokee out of the NC mountains on the Trail of Tears as well. The Cherokee were kept at nearby Fort Armistead in Coker Creek, then transported to Charleston and down the Hiwassee River to Chattanooga (then called Ross’s Landing). From there, the Cherokee walked or went by boat across Tennessee on out to Oklahoma. The deeply entrenched roadbed is sometimes over our head. About halfway down the trail, we enter the area of the old Rolling Stones CCC camp. Much of the campsite area is still easy to explore with lots of stone and cement structures. Once we get off the trail, we will retrieve our vehicles, then probably eat supper at the Blue Line Grill (a partner to the BMTA), a short distance south on TN-68. What to bring: Lunch, water, your dog on leash.

Contact Hike Leaders Rick and Brenda Harris (and Nahme, our dog) at rharris@bmta.org.