Backcountry By-Ways

Backcountry Roads -- and Bridges and Ferries

2010-03-17T16:55:22Z

Mountain road near Sapphire, NC, 1902Travel and transportation in the early Backcountry were often challenging. While there were passable roadways in the valleys -- at least in fair weather -- the mountainous terrain of the highlands was ever daunting. Even into the middle of the 20th century, shank's mare and the mule were often the means of travel. In this article -- vintage pictures of the roads, bridges, ferries and conveyances of the Southern Backcountry.

Note: Click on any image for a larger view

The ways travelled in the mountains were typically narrow and unpaved. Even after state highway departments began taking secondary roads into the state systems, some remained unpaved and others were "orphaned."

Walnut Bottom Road, Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee

Roads often took advantage of the terrain -- during dry parts of the year, creekbeds often served as roadways. Spate creeks were particularly handy for this purpose; periods of high water in the spring would maintain a wide, rocky bed which could be travelled during the rest of the year.

Kentucky mountaineer using a creekbed as a wagon road

Roads built in steep terrain required horseshoe bends and cutbacks -- a mile "as the crow flies" might be three or four miles by wagon or car.

Kentucky mountain road

Even improved roads had their hazards. They still do -- it hasn't been that long since I found the going slow on scenic Rt. 16 in Smyth County, Virginia, on account of twenty-some cattle which had decided to head into town on a Friday night. Slowly. Imperturbably unhurriedly.

BRIDGES

Inevitably, there are bridges, some scenic, others pulse-quickening.

Bridge on Walnut Bottom Road

View over Walnut Bottom Road bridge

Handmade bridge near Jackson, KentuckyView across handmade bridge near Jackson, KentuckyWooden bridge across Hughes River, in the former community of Nethers, VirginiaThen there is the swinging bridge. If you've ever walked across one, you know why they have that name. Some of them are small and manageable . . .

Swinging bridge crossing a creek near Ary, Kentucky. . . and others seem to have been conceived by a committee of demons.

Swinging bridge crossing the Kentucky River at Jackson

Swinging bridges were often situated adjacent to fords where rivers and large creeks could be crossed by wagons during low water. If the water was high, you parked and walked to town, or home. Construction of the swinging bridge is straightforward: a tower is built on each side of the stream or river; cables or heavy ropes are hung between the towers; and decking is then hung from the cables. Stairs or ramps are usually required at each tower.

View of tower structure, swinging bridge in Breathitt County, Kentucky, 1930sTravel across a swinging bridge is, of course, strictly pedestrian.

Swinging bridge near Hazard, Kentucky, well-built with side rails and close-fit plankingMost swinging bridges survive in parks and recreational areas, but a small number of functional swinging bridges remain, such as the North Fork Holston River bridge in Virginia.

CABLE FERRIES

In the early days of settlement, where rivers were too deep to ford, cable ferries were built. Most of these have long ago been retired, leaving only their memory in names like Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. During the early years of the Great Wagon Road migration, four or five cable ferries crossed the Potomac River going south from Frederick County, Maryland, to the Valley of Virginia.

Potomac River cable ferry near Sharpsburg, Maryland, 1930sCable ferries are water-powered. The method is simple: a cable is strung between the banks of a river at a place where there is a steady, wide normal flow. The ferry is attached with shorter free-running cables which can be lengthened or shortened by means of a winch. When the ferry is angled into the flow, the force of the water moves it sideways, toward the opposite bank. For the return trip, the angle is reversed.

Cable ferry operating in McCreary County, Kentucky, about 1940

Cable ferry crossing the Kentucky River, circa 1895, carrying wagons and teams

VEHICLES -- MULES, WAGONS, SLEDS, AND SUCH

Walking was often the only way to get from one place to another in the Backcountry. Children really did get up before dawn and walk several miles to school -- not true, however, that it was all uphill both going and returning.

Carrying supplies after crossing a swinging bridge

Then there was the mule, the all-purpose provider of "horsepower" which pulled plows and wagons, turned grinders, and carried riders.

Two lads riding a mule, Kentucky, 1930sMountain folk riding to town with produce to sellAnother mule carrying two riders

Running the Backcountry mail, 1930sBelow -- the old saves the new. The photographer records his guide's car being pulled from a mud hole by a mule, 1940.

Sleds were once an important means to haul things in the Backcountry. The sled was a simple, rectangular wooden box, open at the top and having wooden runners on the bottom. When I was a lad, such sleds -- pulled by tractors -- were used in the harvesting of tobacco in central North Carolina.

Sled travelling along a creekbedThe terms "sled road" and "wagon road" were not interchangeable in the old days. Sled roads were narrow passages that ran across steep terrain. Compared to wheeled wagons, sleds were at a disadvantage going uphill, but were superior on steep downhill runs.

Wagons remained a common sight in Backcountry towns into the middle of the 20th century

Motor vehicles weren't luxury items in the Backcountry -- they had to earn their keep.

Car loaded with sacks of feed

There are many thousands of miles of abandoned or orphaned sled roads, wagon roads, and horse trails in the Backcountry. With permission, of course, these can sometimes be explored by those willing to hike through the overgrowth.

Motoring Down The Great Wagon Road

2009-09-02T13:33:06Z

Click on any image for a larger view.While the exact route of the Great Wagon Road has not been preserved, as such, we know that in Virginia and West Virginia, from the Potomac to the Roanoke Valley, it is either under or parallel to Route U.S. 11. See The Great Wagon Road -- America's Original "Interstate Highway." The Great Wagon road was overlaid on and expanded from the aboriginal track known as the Great Trading Path and the Warrior Path. Eventually the road was improved to the point where it could handle automobile traffic and in the 20th century became U.S. 11. In the process, the road was regraded, straightened, widened, and sometimes relocated and sometimes expanded to three and four lanes. Thus it is often hard to know whether you are on, or simply driving parallel to, the Great Wagon Road.

Except . . . there are places where you can be relatively certain that you are on the old road.

Backcountry Trails

2008-05-24T19:09:33Z

The Appalachian Trail runs from Georgia to Maine, through the heart of the Backcountry. Officially the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, it is administered by the National Park Service and is guarded and maintained by a series of AT Clubs and by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. My favorite section is on Garden Mountain, not only because it is close to home, but also because I can sit on the rock outcroppings and watch the hawks and eagles circling below.

The heart of the North Carolina Historic Barbecue Trail lies in the Carolina Backcountry. Start at the center of the trail, in Lexington, N.C., and you may decide to never leave. Visit the Web site for a listing of the North Carolina Barbecue Society's "Historic Pits."

Virginia's Birding and Wildlife Trail is actually a series of driving routes designated by the state Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, with places to stop, stroll, and watch birds and other critters. The majority of the "loops" are in the Mountain Trail section, located in Virignia's Backcountry.

The Blue Ridge Parkway and the Skyline Drive run along mountain crests from northern Virginia to western North Carolina. The Parkway features numerous overlooks for stopping to appreciate mountain vistas, some with short hiking trails. The Skyline Drive portion of the road is in Shenandoah National Park.

Located on the Tennessee side of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Cades Cove contains a loop road which permits driving, walking, and biking. Within Cades Cove, the Park Service has preserved a number of historic log and wooden structures.

The Crooked Road, Virginia's Heritage Music Trail, is a driving route which winds through Southwest Virginia. The Crooked Road features bluegrass, old time, and traditional country music and provides a number of venues, such as Carter Fold, where you can listen and enjoy.

The Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia has a multitude of hiking and mountain-biking trails. One of the most interesting places in the Monongahela is the Cranberry Wilderness, named for its cranberry bogs, which contains a wide variety of wildlife. The nearby Cranberry Backcountry is open to mountain biking, horseback riding, and cross-country skiing.

The Mount Rogers National Recreation Area in Southwest Virginia contains over 400 miles of outdoor recreation trails, including the Virginia Highlands Horse Trail.

The Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail can be driven or walked; running from Tennessee and Virginia, where the "Overmountain Men" rallied and formed a militia, to the site of the Battle of King's Mountain in South Carolina, this trail commemorates the most important militia engagement in the American Revolution.

The Pennsylvania Artisan Trails feature several Backcountry venues, including the Rt. 15 ByWay of the Arts and Handmade Along The Highway (located along the Lincoln Highway and the historic National Road).

North Carolina's Pottery Road runs along a scenic byway, Route 705, through the heart of the Seagrove area where potteries are abundant. Farther west, the Blue Ridge Craft Trail winds through the mountains.

'Round The Mountain, Southwest Virginia's Artisan Network, collects a number of artisan "venues" for travelers in the region. The Web site features a guide to pre-determined routes which also permits you to map out your own "trail."

The Shenandoah Valley Wine Trail features a number of Virginia's new wineries. Alas, there appears to be no published information on a moonshine trail, despite the reputation of Franklin County, Virginia, as the "Moonshine Capital of the World."

From the town of Abingdon to the hamlet of Green Cove, the Virginia Creeper Trail follows the route of an old mountain railway. A multi-purpose outdoor experience, the Virginia Creeper Trail is open for hiking, bicycling, and horseback riding, and in the boundaries of the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area it parallels mountain trout streams.

The War Between The States, also known as the American Civil War, and sometimes as the Recent Unpleasantness, is memorialized in a series of trails including Backcountry areas of Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina.