"Announcing a new Meetup for Tri-State Hiking Club! ... MoreWhat: Big South Fork - Memorial Day Camping Trip When: Friday, May 28, 2010 7:00 PM Where: Big South Fork NRRA - Bandy Creek Campground Highway 297 Oneida, TN 37841 (423) 286-7275 Encompassing 125,000 acres of the Cumberland Plateau and spanning the state lines of Kentucky and Tennessee, Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area protects the free-flowing Big South Fork of the Cumberland River and its tributaries. The area boasts miles of scenic gorges and sandstone bluffs, is rich with natural and historic features, and provides visitors with a wide range of outdoor recreational activities. Big South Fork NRRA contains 300 miles of trails used by hikers, horseback riders and mountain bikers. (The trails we’ll be hiking on are hiker-only trails.) We’ll do a moderate to strenuous 6- to 8-mile hike on both Saturday and Sunday. On both evenings, we’ll do a potluck dinner at one of the campsites. Sorry, but no pets on this trip. We have eight tent campsites reserved at Bandy Creek Campground. Each campsite accommodates two 2-person tents or one larger tent, and has a picnic table and fire ring (no electric). There are restrooms and a shower house located near our campsites, and a swimming pool near the camping area that charges $3. When you RSVP, we’ll ask you how many people your tent sleeps. If it’s 1 or 2, your cost for the weekend will be $34. If you have a larger tent, you’ll have a campsite to yourself and your cost will be $68. In order to hold your spot on this trip, we’ll need to receive your payment by March 30. If you later have to cancel, you’ll need to find a replacement to get a refund. (Sorry, but one of us has gotten burned in the past when setting up a trip where we had our money on the line.) We’ll have an informational meeting before the trip so that everyone knows what to bring and where we’re going. If you’ve never been to Big South Fork, it’s a beautiful area, and we should be there just in time to see the bigleaf magnolias in bloom! Learn more here: http://www.tristatehi... "