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Charit Creek Lodge and Charit Creek Hiking Trail
Big South Fork
Dates: 10/18/2009 and 10/19/2009

My wife and I wanted to take a couple of days to get away. We spend the first night in Rugby TN which is well worth the trip. The second night we wanted to get a little further out so we decided to hike in to Charit Creek Lodge to spend a night. The original plan was to take the Twin Arches Loop Trail following one side in and the other side back out the next day. We ended up taking to long to get to the park so we decided to take the short way in via Charit Creek Hiking Trail. The Charit Creek Hiking Trail is about 0.8 miles so it is truly a short trail. Coming in the trail is all decent and going back out it is all ascents. According to “100 Trails of the Big South Fork: Tennessee and Kentucky ” By Russ Manning there is about 500 feet of elevation change on the trail and that sounds about right. The Elevation changes are fairly gradual in most places and there are steps built into the earth where the changes are steeper. There is one location that requires climbing a wooden ladder but it is something like 9 or 10 steps so no worries there. I say this only because I read one review of this trail that mad the ladder sounds like you were ascending/descending hundreds of steps. As a general rule there is a fair amount of ascent/descent on this trail but most of it is not all that steep.

I definitely plan to go back to Charit Creek Lodge. When I return I will plan out my trip a little better to allow time for hiking in on the Twin Arches Loop Trail or maybe to hike in on the Charit Creek Hiking Trail and then take the Twin Arches Loop leaving from the lodge. I think a two day visit to Charit Creek Lodge would also be a better idea to allow time for a more leisurely visit. Charit Creek has hot water and a bath house for most of the year (until it gets too cold) so that is a real plus. Both of the staff members we interacted with at Charit Creek Lodge were very nice. The food was good and honestly much better than I expected. The day we were up there it was just us and one other couple. I’m not sure how typical that is of their bookings but it was nice to mostly have the place to ourselves while still having someone new to talk to at meals. My best description of Charit Creek Lodge is that it is roughing it without the rough parts. There is no electric, but you have running water, hot meals, fairly comfortable bunk beds and wood heat with the wood provided and ready to use in the winter. One of the most amazing things for me was looking up at the sky in the middle of the night to see all the stars that are normally blocked out by the light pollution of the city.

There are a few different books covering the trails of Big South Fork. As I mentioned before there is 100 Trails of the Big South Fork: Tennessee and Kentucky which seems to be a fairly thorough book that includes hiking as well as horse trails. Hiking the Big South Forkwas recommended by one of the people at the ranger station because two of the three authors are Big South Fork rangers and they have hiked every trail in the book to assure accuracy. It does not have all of the trails that are included in the other book but the fact that it was written by people who should know the park well was a real selling point for me.