Lost Cove near Erwin TN

[tzbrown]

Very interesting read, Christy A. Smith has a copy of her thesis available online about the settlement for detailed research and further information.
http://etd-submit.etsu.edu/etd/theses/available/etd-1112107-162048/unrestricted/SmithC121407f.pdf

[max patch]

Very interesting read, Christy A. Smith has a copy of her thesis available online about the settlement for detailed research and further information.
http://etd-submit.etsu.edu/etd/theses/available/etd-1112107-162048/unrestricted/SmithC121407f.pdf

corrected url

http://etd-submit.etsu.edu/etd/these...thC121407f.pdf

[BlistersBCB1995]

whats the easiest way to access this i think im gonna head there maybe sat...... what exit and roads will i need to know and markings thanks ......

Jackson love exit. Take first right. Go past Holiday Inn. Take first left. Follow river. Uncle Johnnys is at a four way stop go straight. After you go up a little ways, you will see a little gravel spot where they have a gate. Go down that trail get on the rail road tracks, and you will come to a short bridge. Go past the bridge a little ways. After a while you will come to a place we call "The Walls". There's a huge rock on your left there should also be a little trail beside it. Go up there and follow the old jeep trail, and you will come to the lost cove(:

[BlistersBCB1995]

Some friends and I are looking into researching Lost Cove. Its really not an easy place to get to. From what I have been told, Lost Cove was a remote logging settlement at the base of Flattop Mountain in the Nolichucky River Gorge. Residents used to hop the train into Unaka Springs to get supplies. When the railroad business moved from Unaka Springs to Erwin. Lost Cove became too remote for the residents. One day they decided to pack up and leave. Leaving their houses, vehicles, and buried loved ones.

The easiest accesses are from the rafting launch at Popular NC, hike about 5 miles along railroad. There is a spur trail over a steep hill or look for the railroad spur that runs into the settlement.

The other is to park at the Chestoa Rec Area at the Nolichucky River trailhead for the AT. Hike the railroad as well. There is another parking spot near the remains of the old Unaka Springs hotel. It is another 5 miles but the grade will be all uphill. This is a bit more dangerous direction because the trains are rounding around the gorge at high speeds. People say they didnt see the train until it almost on top of them.

There is one more route. Love Cove residents also used a timber road on top of Flattop when they had to move their timber and make supply runs. This is the route I am trying to locate. A couple websites say there is a blue blazed forest road that will lead to the timber road and down into the settlement, but I could never find it. It is supposed accessed from eastern side of Flattop near Souix NC. Taking WhiteOak Flats road up to FSR 278, you follow it until you see the road. But there are several FSR's and timber trails along it. It is hard to tell what it is. I took the first gated road, and hiked to the very end. But I believe, I hiked along the eastern ridge of Flattop near the Toecane area.

Another option but requires a bit of bushwhacking is on the western side of Flattop Mtn. Using the AT or westend of FSR 278, hike up to the top of Devil Creek Gap where the AT crosses the road. There will be a number of junctions here. A couple of old timber roads and the main FSR 278 leading up to some open meadows. Follow the bottom timber road just above the AT. After about a mile and half, you will come to a grassy open flat area. You will have an awesome view of No Business, Temple Ridge, and Unaka. There is a posted blue blaze forest trail at the right side of the field near a gate. It is listed as Devils Creek Trail. This trail has not been maintained in a while. It is full of rodo and is very narrow. I could only get to the first cascade crossing before it started raining. But around the 2nd creek crossing, you should be able to bushwhack to the top of Lost Cove.

Miss Janet and a friend of hers know of some of the exact routes

Actually. It's really easy to get too. Me and my dad go all the time. I personally havent been all the way up, but we have camped right before you go up the jeep trail. And you say that people used to hop the train to get to town. That's wrong. There is a truck still up there I think. You can barely tell that it's a truck for all the vandalism, but that truck someone would drive it down the old trail, and there used to be a loading dock there. Well they had a crane that would pick the truck up from the loading dock and put it on the train. They would go to town and get what they needed and catch the next train back to the cove. There are no longer any buildings up there from what I understand from my dad. However, there are 2 graveyards still there. One is VERY hard to find, and only a few people have found it. And also your wrong about why the cove is abandoned. The people that lived there, started gettin very very sick. Diseases started goin around really bad. If you read the headstones in the graveyard that's hard to find, you will find this out. But they eventually almost died out. So the people that were still livin there, decided that it was just better to leave. So they hopped the train, and left. Ever since then it's been called "The Lost Cove". We also call the bridge "Imbred Bridge". And if you go up the trail beside the Imbred Bridge, you will then find "The Devils Washbowl" That is a VERY beautiful place. I have pics on my face book and myspace. If any would like too see these pictures.

[moytoy]

If you are really interested in a good accounting of Lost Cove and its people read this.
http://etd-submit.etsu.edu/etd/these...thC121407f.pdf

[Grits]

A great hike.

[PlaneLady]

I'm trying to find out how the road conditions are getting to the trail from 19W. My husband and I tried this once and got turned around, as I remember it was a rocky dirt road requiring 4 wheel drive --- which I don't have in my little Honda. I've read several accounts, one says to try forest service road 278.

I'd also try the tracks IF the trestles are short -- too old to try and outrun a train. I have a newspaper accounting where my grandfather went in back in the 60s and talks about them hanging on for dear life under a trestle because of the train --- not my cup of tea!

Any info appreciated...

[10-K]

You do not want to do the RR bridge... Way, way too much traffic and you can't hear them coming.

As for the road - it'd probably be easier to park on 19W at Spivey Gap and just walk the AT the 1.5 miles up to the service road.

[Tennessee Viking]

I'm trying to find out how the road conditions are getting to the trail from 19W. My husband and I tried this once and got turned around, as I remember it was a rocky dirt road requiring 4 wheel drive --- which I don't have in my little Honda. I've read several accounts, one says to try forest service road 278.

I'd also try the tracks IF the trestles are short -- too old to try and outrun a train. I have a newspaper accounting where my grandfather went in back in the 60s and talks about them hanging on for dear life under a trestle because of the train --- not my cup of tea!

Any info appreciated...

Here is another thread with some info...http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=10164

and a hiker friend of mine made this page. http://www.freewebs.com/lostcove/

I have been there. Its quite the backcountry experience. The only directions I have are word of mouth.

There is somewhat easier access by going over Flattop Mountain. When I say somewhat easier...this route is shorter but there is a good change in elevation and requires a little bushwhack.

This is the only book that comes close to describing the route. Highland Trails. The Joe Lewis Fields/Lost Cove Trail.

Drive south on 19W past the Spivey Gap Rec Area and the AT. Take the first left onto Whiteoak Flats Road. Then take a left onto a gated USFS road (278). It its only open mid April to Winter time. Drive about 2 miles to a small turnout. The road becomes very rough after this point, so stop here. From the turnout, walk up past a small gate onto an old road turned trail to Joe Lewis Fields. This is Lost Cove Trail. Head westward in the fields. And look for a trail that drops down toward the gorge. Avoid the path that continues toward the peak.

I traveled down the trail for about 1.5-2.0 miles until I found a worn path with blazed ribbon going down a drainage. This is where the bushwhack comes in. From here, I found and lost and found again hillside trail. But I found the property boundary fairly easily (a series of trees with red blazing paint). Then walked into Lost Cove onto the main dirt road.

[Buhzerker]

If you use the RR track to go to Lost Cove, Contact the RR and get a schedule of when the Trains will be on the track. I have walked the track a few times and had no problems. Watch for snakes in the summer time, as they love the rocks on the tracks.

[tdeaderick]

I recently published a science-fiction novel ("Flightsuit") that is based on Lost Cove and Bumpas Cove. I've hiked to the Lost Cove many times, and I'm sure we all enjoy and appreciate many of the same elements of this experience. Here's an excerpt from the book…

"Sometimes the houses were gone entirely, leaving only smooth brown river stones stacked to form a house's crude foundations. Each spring daffodils bloomed. They marked boundaries of porch and path between the little houses where mothers and daughters planted them. They'd not realized all their hands went to would be left behind and forgotten. The wood and stones that had sheltered them from freezing cold winters and the deluge downpours of Tennessee summer rains crumbled without human attention, but the most fragile efforts they'd laid their hands to, the flowers, outlasted all. The flowers bloomed every summer, with none to admire them."

I hope the book is especially enjoyable for those who have actually been to these places and I welcome local feedback and reviews. It's available at Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H1TC8C6

[Hikes in Rain]

Wow. Science fiction, hiking and ghost towns! I gotta check this one out.


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[tdeaderick]

Awesome! I'd really love some local reviews. I hope you enjoy it!

[tdeaderick]

By the way, the paperback version should be listed at that link within a few days. The eBook is available now.

[tdeaderick]

The science fiction book (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H1TC8C6) I set in the Lost Cove is doing really well. 560 copies sold in January!


I received permission from the ETSU Archives of Appalachia to use the cool train wreck photograph from Christy's excellent thesis on the book's Facebook page (www.facebook.com/FlightsuitBook). I can't wait to take this picture and find the site of the wreck when it gets warmer.

[paulherrin]

tom, i know exactly where it is... feel free to contact me and i'll point it out however's easiest

[tomdeaderick]

Wow. Science fiction, hiking and ghost towns! I gotta check this one out.


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Thanks!

Richard Rourke wrote an article in the Erwin Record (July 31, 2019) featuring THE LOST COVE SERIES. You can find it online at https://www.erwinrecord.net/neighbor...sf_s=deaderick