Xterra Panther Creek 2016

Dirty Bird Events to host “Xterra Panther Creek” featuring a new Trail Run in the Series Saturday and Sunday July 30-31, 2016 at Panther Creek State Park in Morristown, TN

June 23, 2016

XTERRA Panther Creek Trail Races – July 30 @ 8:00 am
XTERRA Panther Creek Triathlon – July 31 @ 8:00 am

Panther Creek State Park
2010 Panther Creek Park Road
Morristown, TN 37814

Event Description

In late July, for the third year running, Dirty Bird Events will be hosting one of the oldest off-road triathlons in East Tennessee, XTERRA Panther Creek. Newly added this year is another trail race in the XTERRA Tennessee Trail Running Series.

Xterra Knoxville 2015 Is Coming Soon

Below is the press release from Dirty Bird Events about Xterra Knoxville Trail Run and Triathlon:

"Dirty Bird Events to host “Xterra Knoxville” Saturday and Sunday June 6-7, 2015 at Knoxville’s Urban Wilderness 

May 8, 2015

Image Courtesy of: Dirty Bird Events

XTERRA Knoxville Trail Race – June 6 @ 9:00 am
XTERRA Knoxville Triathlon – June 7 @ 8:00 am

Ijams Nature Center (Mead's Quarry)
2915 Island Home Way
Knoxville, TN 37920

Event Description

Burnt Mill Bridge Loop - BSFNR

The weekend was upon us once again, and in the dead of winter, Mother Nature was kind enough to provide a sunny day for hiking.  A couple of hikes have been on our to-do list, and a quick deliberation lead us north to the Big South Fork National River and Recreation for a relatively easy 4.3 mile hike on the Burnt Mill Bridge Loop Trail.

After readying our packs, layering our clothes, and packing an after hike lunch, we were out the door and on our way with the mercury rising by noon time.  It was a pleasant, uneventful drive up I-75 to our exit towards Huntsville, TN in Scott County.  As we ventured further north and up the Cumberlands, the peaks showed what was left of their white winter blanket.  It wasn't long before we reached the trail head, geared up, and headed down the trail.

Burnt Mill Bridge Loop is an absolutely gorgeous hike, especially in the winter time.  We had hiked in the same area back when we did Honey Creek Loop in the early fall of last year. The trail is relatively flat, and the terrain isn't very difficult, featuring soft footing and sandy stretches as you follow alongside the Clear Fork River for most of the trail. There are, as always in Tennessee, some rooty and rocky parts, a few foot bridges, a couple sets of stone steps, and one ladder -- dubbed by the Kiddo as the "bestest part of the trail."

The scenery was so much like the Honey Creek trail, only much milder, that we were glad we could finally share this with Ashby.  Remember, Honey Creek is the trail that's on steroids... not something Ash would be fond of. But this trail was perfect for her. Tons of opportunities for ooohs and ahhhs (Robin ended up with over 250 photos!), vistas as far as your eye would take you up and down river, rock shelters and bluffs, icicles taller than us, and lots of sweet little swimming holes if you're out in summer -- all packed into this kid-friendly hike.

If you're doing the trail clockwise, like we did, you'll find one of these swimming areas about .36 miles from the parking lot. There's a tree there with boards nailed on to fashion a ladder and a nice rope swing.  There's another rope just two trees down. If it'd been summer, I would have been hard pressed to have resisted the inner child. The water looks deep enough here for jumping, and the rope looked to be in decent shape. But looks can be deceiving, so it never hurts to be cautious. This summer, a hot, sweltering day may find us picnicking here, and taking turns jumping in the river.

Overall, this was one of the prettiest trails we've been on.  The website states that it's 3.6 miles, but our GPS confirmed others that have said the same - the trail really tops out at 4.3 miles. The trail is rated moderate, but I don't think it's the terrain that causes this. There were signs that the river had raged over the trail, and we met a friendly couple and their dog along the way who confirmed this.  During heavy rains, part of the trail may be covered, and the current of that river looked very swift at times. You wouldn't want to be caught out there when flash flood warnings are in effect. Otherwise, the trail was very easy with a small elevation gain (about 150 feet that we could best guess) towards the halfway point.

With lots of resting spots (backcountry campsites galore!) and way too many things to look at for the time allotted, we had a hard time keeping ourselves moving. Towards the end we were losing light fast, but we really didn't mind. Although the temp was dropping and the Hamgeek (Robin's dad) would be worried, we couldn't help but watch the evening sunlight dance through the rhododendrons and sparkle off the many ice cascades near the end of the trail. The opportunity to behold the majesty of hemlock forests at sunset is worth the cost of tired feet and chilly noses. We can't wait to visit here again and again to watch the landscape change with the seasons.

Happy Trails,

Tim and Robin

PS... We've created a Flickr account so we can share more pictures with you! So, if you're interested in seeing more photos of this hike, click here.

Is that a hole for gentlemen to swim in?

The day was July 21, 2007. If I remember correctly, it was a Saturday, of course I could just open my calendar and make certain that was the day and realize that it was a Sunday. And yes I just looked and confirmed that it was indeed a Saturday. HAHAHA. Anyway, we were itching to get out of the house, and I especially was wanting to go on a good hike. So, I got to looking around on the net and in our various trail books and came across a nice loop trail that combines the Gentlemen's Swimming Hole Trail and Meeting Bend Trail in the little town of Rugby just at the Southern edge of the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area.

Rugby, is a small quaint town that was started in 1880 as a colony for Victorian English in the Cumberlands. On most days, you can go there and walk about the community and check out the buildings. Some of the buildings are not the originals as fires claimed a few of them, others are the originals.

Well enough about the town, now on to the hike. The hike starts out in a parking lot across from one of Rugby's cemeteries. When you get to the trail head, you have a choice to go clockwise to the swimmin' hole first or counter clockwise to the meeting place at the confluence. We decided to go to the confluence first as there were a few people coming from and going to the hole.


The hike to the confluence is straight down, well not really straight down but down enough to make you know that at some point you are going to have to come back up. So the hike down to the confluence was quite nice. There were several spots where there were ruts in the trail (this was an apparent jeep road). In the ruts, water had gathered and made the spots look like miniature swamps or something of the like. In these mini-swamp spots, we found all sorts of neat things; tadpoles, dragon flies, etc. The trek down to the confluence was about 1.2 miles.

Once off the jeep road the trail starts to follow a creek and slopes down to where the waters of White Oak Creek and The Clear Fork river meet. After walking down the slope we come upon the neatest spot where the two tributaries meet. Here we decide to put on our sandals and play around for a bit. The water and the rock bluffs on the other side of the river made for a remarkable backdrop to the day. I believe the kids had a good time playing around there and Robin took some real pretty pictures of the area.

Once we were done there we donned our packs and went about our merry way to the swimming hole. The path to the swimming hole follows alongside some amazing rock bluffs. This is one of the reasons I love Big South Fork. You really don't get this type of scenery in the Smoky Mountains. Granted the Smokies are great in their own right, they just don't compare to the Fork.



So from the confluence to the swimming hole was another 1.5 miles or so. When we got there we were hot and there wasn't a soul in sight. We decided it would be nice to take a dip. Of course we really didn't have anything with us for a swim (i.e. towels, bathing suit, etc.). So what do country folk do when confronted with this? They throw caution to the wind and strip down to their skivvies and take themselves a dip. It sure did feel good to get in the cool water. I can see why many a native of the area utilize the hole during the hottest parts of the summer days. We all had ourselves a blast swimming around and whatnot. We were even amazed at the fact Clover was swimming. We've had her at the lake before and she would chase sticks into the water, but she would never really dare venture out far enough to go swim. We've also had her at the pool and she would panic when we would get her in and flail around like a fish out of water. So it was quite surprising that when we got in for a dip she did too. Oh she had an absolute blast swimming in the river and running around like a hyperactive kid with a sugar rush.

It must have been divine intervention or something of the sorts however, we had finally decided we had enough fun and were getting out and getting our clothes back on. It's a good thing we did when we did because it wasn't a minute later that a group of kids came down to swim and fish. I guess it's a good thing we weren't skinny dipping otherwise they might have caught more than an eyeful. So we were finished getting dressed and adorned ourselves with our packs and head back out to the trail for another .7 miles back out to the cemetery. Of course the hike from the swimmin' hole to the cemetery was up. Remember we were going to have to go up to get out. It wasn't that bad as there were stairs here and there on the way out. The rest of the trail followed the rock bluff until we were on top of it again at the trail head.

Total distance on the hike was approximately 3.2 miles. That does not count the side trail down to and back from the swimmin' hole. It was indeed a great day and a great hike. I can definitely see this trail as being one we revisit during the summer months each year.

Be on the lookout for the next entry "What on earth is that Heron mining?"
Happy Trails,
Tim and Robin