Emory Tract Section

Mile 0.0 (3.1)  From the Rocky Fork Trailhead (N36 07.507 W84 30.672), the short Ross Gap Connector Trail begins by following an old road across a shallow side creek.

Mile 0.05 (3.05)   In 200 feet, reach a signed intersection with the Ross Gap Trail, which here is an old road. The trail to the right leads 0.3 mile to the FHSP Visitor Center but involves a potentially deep ford of Flat Fork Creek, depending on the season. A bridge is planned for this crossing. During high water, an alternative to reach the Visitor Center is to walk the shoulder of Flat Fork Road from the trailhead.

At the trail junction, turn left on Ross Gap Trail to head toward the CT.

Mile 0.1 (3.0)   Reach the end of the old road and bear left on a foot trail at a sign acknowledging the efforts of a 2008 Americorps team that constructed this section of trail.

Mile 0.6 (2.5)   Turn left off the end of the foot trail onto an old coal-mining bench. Because the coal seams in this part of the Cumberland Mountains lie flat, like the layers of a cake, the coal seams follow the contours of the mountains. Early miners extracted the easily available coal by following the seams along the contours, often leaving behind level benches.

Mile 1.0 (2.1)   Turn right onto the old Ross Gap Road (N36 07.651 W84 31.349). This badly rutted dirt road connects Flat Fork Valley with the ridge crest of Bird Mountain at Ross Gap. Since the acquisition of this land by FHSP, the road has not been maintained and is closed to vehicle traffic, and so is suitable for foot travel only. (Do not walk the old road to the left down the mountain as it passes through private lands.)

Mile 2.4 (0.7)   Reach the junction with the Cumberland Trail just below Ross Gap (N36 08.313 W84 31.314). On the east side of the gap, you’ll find a steel magazine once used for storing explosives and an angle iron frame; both remain from the last episode of coal mining in this area.

Ross Gap is the easiest and lowest access point along the crest of Bird Mountain and thus is crossed by several old roads and trails. Because these are unofficial trails, only experienced outdoors people should attempt to follow them.

As of 2014, the trail west from Ross Gap has only 0.7 mile constructed by CTC volunteers. The route is complicated by numerous crossings of the old roads that radiate away from Ross Gap and, because the route is seldom traveled, can get quite overgrown. When this section is more heavily used, the CT route will be more obvious. For now you’ll need to keep an eye on the white blazes marking the trail.

At the junction of Ross Gap Trail with the Cumberland Trail, turn left on the CT’s Emory Tract Section. (If the trail left at the junction is overgrown, you can continue up the road to Ross Gap and take the road left up the mountain to pick up the trail at one of the crossings described below; look for white blazes.)

Mile 2.5 (0.6)   The trail curves right and climbs above Ross Gap to cross the old road leading up from the gap.

Mile 2.7 (0.4)  Recross this old road and then follow a coal bench off to the left before turning right onto foot trail.

Mile 2.8 (0.3)   Join an old road on the south side of the crest of Bird Mountain, which merges left into another coal bench.

Mile 2.9 (0.2)   Leave the coal bench for a foot trail on your right to climb above the coal bench and cross a steep slope within sight of the old coal bench below.

Mile 3.1 (0.0)  The current end of this section is marked by a wooden sign (N36 08.275 W84 31.823).

The remainder of the Emory Tract Section has not yet been constructed. This section will likely follow the crest of Bird Mountain west to Low Gap and then Grapevine Gap. As it nears Wartburg, the route will turn onto the southeast slope of Bird Mountain and head almost due south toward Wartburg. From Ross Gap for about two and one half miles west to Low Gap, the long ridge of Bird Mountain was purchased as part of the Connecting the Cumberlands Initiative. The parcel between the ridge crest of Bird Mountain down to the Emory River on the north is known as the Emory Tract and was added to Frozen Head State Park and Natural Area in 2007 as part of the initiative.

—Hiram Rogers, FHSP Volunteer Trail Crew Member and CTC Board Member