Big South Fork River begins in Tennessee at the confluence of the Clear Fork River and the New River, and then flows north through a 600 foot deep gorge, enters Kentucky and empties into the Cumberland River. This is most rugged territory on the Cumberland Plateau with a network of hills and hollows, rocky ridges and river valleys.

Known as the "Niagara of the South," the Cumberland Falls is a 125-foot wide curtain of water and quite dramatic, day or night. But it's only at night and only during a full moon that you can see the "moonbow", a phenomenon not found anywhere else in the Western Hemisphere.

We left the Great Smokey Mountain National Park after a great week of exploration....however we could not resist one final small hike up to Laurel Falls on our way out. This before we started our day long drive over to Mammoth Cave National Park.