![]() ![]() The total distance is 11.3 miles with nearly 800 ft. Once you reach Divide Road, hike the gravel road the final two miles or so back to Chestnut Ridge. Park at the beginning of the Chestnut Ridge Trail, hike to the overlook, then on the way back, take the John Muir Trail west to Divide Road. Make it Better: If you really want to add some mileage, make the Chestnut Ridge hike a loop trail. The incident convinced Jerome Boyatt to give himself up, and he, too, was murdered a few weeks after that when a vigilante mob kidnapped him from the old Scott County Jail in Huntsville, tortured him and shot him to death a short distance from U.S. A few weeks later, his body was discovered by neighbors. But Ranse Boyatt was released and allowed to return home to the farm, ostensibly to tend to it. The entire Boyatt family had been rounded up from No Business Creek and held captive in Byrdstown, in Pickett County. Jerome Boyatt had been accused of murdering two lawmen at a lumber camp at Rock Creek, and was on the run from the law. This is the site where Boyatt, the father of Jerome Boyatt, was murdered in the Great Depression era. This is the Ranse Boyatt homestead, and if you have a good pair of binoculars, you can see the chimney of the Boyatt cabin still standing. Look For: From John Muir Overlook, look to the west and you’ll see a clearing in No Business Creek Valley far below. This is the only of the 20 hikes featured in the Twenty Week Hiking Challenge that will lead you on foot through parts of two states.īe Careful For: John Muir Overlook is unprotected. Another fun fact: The Chestnut Ridge hike begins in Kentucky, but John Muir Overlook is located in Scott County, Tennessee. The John Muir Trail travels along the edge of Chestnut Ridge for 7.4 miles between Divide Road and John Muir Overlook, but the Chestnut Ridge Trail is a shorter way in - a little over 2.5 miles each direction. 154.įun Fact: Chestnut Ridge is part of a mountain biking loop trail that encompasses 18 miles by combining portions of the John Muir Trail and the Rock Creek Loop Trail with the Chestnut Ridge multiuse trail. It is located eight-tenths of a mile across the TN-KY line, or 8.7 miles from where Divide Road turns off S.R. Watch carefully for an unnamed dirt road on the right. Stay on Divide Road until you reach the Tennessee-Kentucky state line and the road name becomes Peters Mountain Road. 154 and then take a right onto Divide Road. 297 from Oneida, through the Big South Fork and to its terminus at S.R. Chestnut Ridge Road itself is a multiuse trail that is open to most usage forms. The cycling loop also includes part of the John Muir Trail between the overlook and Divide Road, and a part of the Rock Creek Loop west of Divide Road. Rather, it is part of a mountain bike loop that the Oneida-based Big South Fork Bike Club helps the National Park Service maintain. But the view is spectacular any time of day, and if you look carefully, you’ll see the cleared field of the Ranse Boyatt homestead in the valley below.Ĭhestnut Ridge is not an official hiking trail. If you make the hike early enough in the day, when atmospheric conditions are right, you’ll be treated to the spectacular sight of a morning mist rising off the creek below. A short distance ahead, a rock outcropping offers a spectacular view of No Business Creek. In fact, there are unprotected bluffs on either side, and a large man’s wingspan could almost cover the entire width of the ridge (use caution, especailly with children and pets). ![]() After a couple of miles, the ridge narrows considerably. ![]()
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