Feature article
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Climb up Backbone Rock not for the faint of heart
By Kristen Buckles
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Editor’s Note: As part of our Hidden Treasures series, which runs each Thursday during the summer months, GoTriCities staff writers highlight places and events right here in our own back yard that many folks don’t know even exist. Got an idea or suggestion? We’d love to hear it. Write to the Kingsport Times-News, c/o Jessica Fischer, at 701 Lynn Garden Drive, Kingsport, Tenn. 37662 or e-mail jfischer@timesnews.net.
Backbone Rock, with its approximately quarter-mile trail, camping grounds, picnic sites and scenic vistas, proved to be the perfect blend of wilderness and civilization for a short day trip.
I convinced my dad to accompany me on the route through Shady Valley towards Damascus. As we came to what seemed to be the highest elevation of TN-133, we rounded a bend and passed through the tunnel before I could even blink.
At approximately 20 ft. wide, the locals call Backbone Rock’s tunnel “The Shortest Tunnel in the World,” according to Watauga district ranger Don Palmer.
The rock was originally blasted and drilled around 1900 to make way for the Beaver Dam Railway Co., which wanted to connect Shady Valley, Tenn., with Damascus, Va., for easier transport of natural resources.
By 1911, however, the natural resources were well on their way to being depleted. To help prevent this from happening, the federal government purchased the land, including Backbone Rock and the 20,000 acres surrounding it, to include in Tennessee’s natural forests.
The route once occupied by the Beaver Dam Railroad, similarly named to the once-parallel Beaverdam Creek, is still in use. Government employees removed the tracks in 1924 and opened the route to automobiles. The tunnel was widened in 1930 for two lanes.
Palmer described the recreation area around Backbone Rock, listing 11 camp units, the trails, two picnic shelters and a variety of stone work.
That stone work is obvious as soon as you pull into the parking lot. Stairs lead a steep path up the rock from the side of the lot. The trail then leads you across the rock and back down a second set of stone steps that bottom out at a pool-like area in the creek. A number of other stone steps also dot the area and begin the path to Backbone Falls.
Falls, of course, is a relative term. The closest thing to a waterfall that we found was a little bit of white water around a small dip in the creek at the end of the path. It was worth it to take the trail through the woods, however.
It rained steadily the entire time we were there, but that only enhanced the beauty of the area. Everything sparkled in a variety of emeralds and forest greens. The rain did, however, keep us from walking over the rock, where the trail narrows and there are no handrails.
“If you're spooky of heights, it's probably something you ought to take slow. It's a little bit of an eerie feeling,” Palmer said of that segment of the trail, which he estimated to be a couple hundred yards or so in length and about 100 feet tall. He added that it does have its perks, though.
“It's an excellent view up there ... parts of Holston Mountain, Beaverdam Creek from some parts of it and just a pretty landscape view,” he said.
Between picnicking (one shelter had a beautiful stone fireplace), hiking, biking, fishing, camping and sightseeing, there should be plenty to keep you occupied for the day with friends or family.
I do have a couple words of caution, though. The trails do have steep steps and sharp drop-offs and frequently require you to climb over fallen trees. It’s not difficult, however, and makes things a bit more adventurous.
To get to Backbone Rock, go North on I-81 into Virginia. Take exit 19 toward Abingdon/Damascus. Turn right at South Shady Avenue and continue on TN-133. The tunnel, falls, camping grounds and recreation area are all visible from the road. If you would like to take the more scenic path, take US 421, known locally as “The Snake,” and turn left at TN-133.
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