New onX Offroad Route:

Remote Appalachia

Our journey begins with an ascent of Walden’s Ridge, the eastern edge of the Cumberland Plateau. This imposing landform rises sharply from the Tennessee Valley below, its sheer cliffs and dense forests forming a formidable natural barrier that pioneers once called the “Wall of the Appalachians.” As you climb the steep, rocky switchbacks, the air cools and the views widen, revealing layer upon layer of folded ridgelines stretching toward the horizon.

At the top, you arrive on the Cumberland Plateau itself—a vast, flat highland cut by deep, wooded gorges. From here, you’ll roll through the legendary Windrock Off-Road Park, home to over 300 miles of OHV trails. Our path takes you along some of Windrock’s forgotten edges, where the forest thickens and the signs of man thin out, giving way to pure wilderness.

The route presses on toward Panther Rock, an outcrop of stone perched high above the valley floor. This iconic overlook offers breathtaking vistas below, where ancient glacial meltwaters once scoured the land. Pause here, breathe deeply, and take in the endless sea of green that is East Tennessee in summer.

From the rock, you ascend again into Elk Country. These hills, once empty of large game, are now home to a thriving herd of reintroduced elk. If luck is with you, you may catch a glimpse of a bull elk moving slow beneath the sunset on the flats. 

As the trail bends north, it traverses miles of the Royal Blue Wildlife Management Area, operated by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA). This is rugged country—high elevation, deeply forested, and teeming with life. Black bears, bobcats, and wild turkey all make their home here. The land feels primeval, unchanged from the days when only the Cherokee and early mountain settlers knew these paths.

Crossing into the North Cumberland Sundquist Unit, you’ll reach the famed Dark Sky Viewing Area, one of the best stargazing spots in the eastern U.S. On clear nights, the Milky Way stretches overhead in stunning clarity, unmarred by city lights—a reminder of how wild and untouched this part of Appalachia remains.

Pushing deeper into the wilds, the trail leads to Tackett Creek and the storied lands once roamed by the Hatfield family—yes, those Hatfields of the infamous Hatfield-McCoy feud. Here the mountains close in tight, their steep slopes wrapped in dense evergreen mountain laurel so thick in places they form dark, tunnel-like “jungle” corridors where light barely penetrates.

Hidden among the ridges are vast limestone caves, some large enough to swallow entire trucks, and waterfalls that plunge down mossy cliffs into cold, shadowed hollows. Along these trails, old mining roads fade into memory. And wreckage from a plane crash rests untouched, their rusting metal skeletons now part of the forest.

Next comes the climb up the storied Pine Mountain range, the last major uplift before the Kentucky border. The route hugs narrow ridges, where distant hollers echo with bird calls and the humid air smells of pine and wet stone. Along the way, you’ll pass a hidden natural bridge—a slender stone arch carved by centuries of water and wind—and the mysterious Triple Arch Cave, a geological wonder with three yawning openings that disappear into the earth.

As you near the journey’s end, the trail skirts the Kentucky-Tennessee border and the landmark known as Rooster’s Comb—a jagged ridge said to resemble the profile of a sleeping Native American, his face turned skyward in eternal slumber.

Finally, after days of climbing, descending, fording streams, and weaving through history and wilderness, you roll down into the town of Jellico, Tennessee. Nestled at the foot of the mountains, Jellico is a fitting end to an epic off-road expedition—a place where mountain history, coal mining legend, and the spirit of the Appalachian frontier all meet.

This isn’t just a drive. It’s an odyssey that will challenge your vehicle, your skill, and your soul. From sky-piercing peaks to shadowy hollows, from elk meadows to ghost-haunted caves, this 150-mile route offers an Appalachian adventure like no other.

Are you ready to write your own chapter in the story of these mountains?