Obed Wild and Scenic River & Big South Fork NRRA

Yet another National Park Passport Stamp quest today.  I left home about 6:00am headed for Wartburg, TN to visit the Obed Wild and Scenic River and from there to the Big South Fork National River and Recreational Area at Oneida, TN and Stearns, KY.  It was a pretty long ride from my point of view (451 miles round trip) but the scenery in both areas was just magnificent.  In addition to the scenery I got 4 more Passport Stamps bringing my total up to 31.

The Visitors Center for Obed WSR is in Wartburg, TN.  According the the Ranger on duty the building used to be a bank and is now leased by the National Park Service for the Visitors Center.  They have a number of exhibits on display showing aquatic life from the river as well as a great deal of information about the river itself.  The river is quite long so I didn't even try to see much of it but I did stop at the Nemo trailhead and take some photos.

Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area spans the border between Tennessee and Kentucky.  There is a Visitors Center on the Tennessee side near Oneida, TN and another one in Stearns, KY.  The Tennessee VC is a traditional Visitors Center, but the one in Stearns is in a historic area of the city, and is located inside a Train Depot (yes I think you can take a ride on the train!).

The ride itself was uneventful except for the roads going into Big South Fork.  That is a magnificent motorcycle road.  One of the photos below shows a sign that reads "13% Grade / Sharp Curves Ahead" and they are NOT kidding!  It was a blast to ride on a bike!  There were some hairpin turns that were posted at 10 mph.  I honestly think I saw my bike bend in the middle going around a couple of them!