Thursday, February 22, 2007

Blue Hole

 

The Blue Hole, located in the Stony Creek area of Elizabethton, TN is a really beautiful and special place, and a popular local destination for hikers, swimmers, repellers and photographers. There are four waterfalls located in close proximity to each other and to the parking area. Its accessibility is in some ways a problem -- too many people come here who do not respect the beauty of this area, leaving trash all over the place. It's unbelievable to me that people could be so unappreciative of nature and of others. Negativity aside, this place is definitely worth visiting...and appreciating.

The waterfall pictured at the top is the actual "blue hole", and as you can imagine, it's popular with swimmers in the summer. Immediately above the Blue Hole is the next waterfall pictured (above left) -- it's located in its own unique niche or grotto and is my favorite in terms of photography. The final waterfall pictured (right) is actually the upper falls. The fourth waterfall (not pictured) isn't as scenic as the rest --it's located below the main falls and is usually covered up with fallen trees. These are not large waterfalls -- in all, the total height of the four falls combined in said to be 45 feet. The Blue Hole offers many opportunities to climb around and explore. But be careful around the wet, mossy rocks! Often times, there are groups rappelling off of the nearby cliffs.

Click here to see many more Blue Hole photographs!

Directions: From Elizabethton, take Route 91 (Stony Creek) for approximately 10 miles, turn left on Panhandle Road, continue for approximately 1 mile to parking area on left. Click here for a map of the area. It's not much of a hike -- The trail from the parking area will lead you down to the falls -- in all maybe 1/4 mi.

15 comments:

  1. As Mark has graciously pointed out, this is a wonderful spot for waterfall photography. Seveal great lookout spots but do be careful in the Fall and Winter months. The underbrush can be the catalyst of a nasty fall. Easily accesible from the parking spot, which is also its downfall. Do your part and bring a small garbage bag.

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  2. This is a beautiful spot. It amazes me how many people who are not caught up with the "clean up after yourself" mentality. This is a great spot to check out, especially if you are around the area!

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  3. god i love this place... its so relaxing :)

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  4. Thanks for the directions! I had a blast checking out the falls and nearby rocks.

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  5. I visited the blue hole falls about 12 years ago and I will never forget it. It was sooo beautiful. I'd love to go back. It's a shame I never got any pictures.

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  6. My great grandma lived in walking distance from the blue hole and my family spent summer swimming there. I never got the opportunity to but I would love to some day.

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  7. It is cold! LOL Hubby and I decided to take a dip last summer. We also got some great photos!

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  8. Fabulous! Didn't spend much time there as we had another hike planned. I could spend the entire day there.

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  9. Took my family here two weeks ago and we loved it! Went Sunday with visiting family. Will check it out at better photo times!! We also went after NO rain, nice that it has different weather options! I have small children so the water was shallow enough! I have to go after a good rainfall!!

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  10. My wife and I had our marriage ceremony infront of the fall pictured in the 2nd photo. Beautiful!

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    1. If you don't mind me asking, who performed your ceremony? My fiance and I are seriously contemplating having our ceremony there this coming summer but we aren't sure who would do the ceremony there or if we have to do anything special for that location.

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  11. I have been to the BH a couple of times in the past few months. It could be a really nice place. The first visite we carried out two bags of refuse. Leave No Trace is not in effect here. You'd like to think the local youth would clean up after themselves, no respect for anyone. The last time we were there the rocks was strewn with broken glass and Styrofoam cups were up and down the trails, not to mention the garbage in the parking area. It seems to becoming a dump site.

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  12. Mark, coming from Europe on a business trip I asked some colleagues for a nice place to walk and shoot some beautiful pictures. Wow, what an amazing scenery. If you're interested in my photo, I've posted them on Flickr. Hereby the link: https://flic.kr/s/aHskpVRkFJ
    Thanks for your blog.

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  13. Does anyone no y the road past the blue hole is closed???? I have been going there about twice a month "sometimes more" for 5 years and it has never been locked some information to the community would be helpful.

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