Backbone Rock recreation area is in the northern section of Cherokee National forest. The area can be reached via Shady Valley TN. From Johnson City we took the Bristol highway US 11E-N then TN-394E followed by US-421S to reach Shady Valley. In Shady Valley we took TN-133 N to Damascus for about 9 miles to reach the Backbone Rock recreation area. The drive through Shady valley is beautiful offering a winding road through the lush green Cherokee National Forest followed by scenic views of the valley complete with green grasslands, tiny flowers of all hues and colours. Once we reached Shady Valley we took a left turn on TN-133 N at the famous Shady Valley Grocery store. This store apparently is a rage among bikers and so is the winding road in the valley. The store proudly claims that it is "Home of the snake - 1 Valley - 3 mountains - 489 curves" (The snake being a 33 mile winding road which has 489 curves spanning 3 mountains perfect for bikers to enjoy their beasts). This is indeed a biker's paradise and as expected we saw plenty of bikers enjoying the scenic road and the perfect weather for biking.
The backbone recreation area is a typical quiet area you would see in a national forest complete with picnic tables, campground, a small amphitheatre and a nice stream passing along the main attraction the - Tunnel. The tunnel is a nice spot for pictures. Essentially it is the centerpiece of the beautiful recreational area which has something to offer for everyone. There are two trails which start on the Shady Valley side of the tunnel. Backbone rock falls trail, a 0.4 mile loop trail, which is rated as strenuous due to steep drop offs and altitude gain over a short hike starts on the right side of the road . We did not hike this trail (maybe next time). The other trail starts from the parking lot on the left side of the road and takes you to the top of the tunnel via a flight of steps. This is really not a trail but mostly a climb up the stairs to gain beautiful view of the dense forest around and the road below. The climb is fairly simple 5 min climb as long as you are comfortable climbing steps. I can imagine this to be a perfect fall colours viewing spot.
After we left the area we stopped on our way back at the Country store in Shady valley to enjoy some ice cream and fries. This is the quintessential biker store complete with leather jackets and all kinds of biker accessories for sale. It was their anniversary and they were giving away frosted cupcakes so we enjoyed a couple of those as well. Then we decided to take the other route via TN-91 S to reach Blue Hole falls on our way back home. Blue hole falls is located on panhandle road off of TN-91 S. Driving southbound we took a right turn on Panhandle Road / Forest road 202 to reach Blue Hole parking area in about 1 mile. The hike to the falls is about quarter of a mile, if that. The falls are pretty and have a nice swimming hole. The fall is broken into 4 sections with the swimming hole being under the second section. There are opportunities to dive in the hole from a couple of trees and boulders above the hole. The water is at least 8-10 feet deep so one can safely dive from a modest height as long as you avoid the shallow rocks on the edges of the pool. This is also a great spot for taking some nice waterfall pictures.
We left the falls after spending some time taking pictures and resisting the temptation to take a dip in the nice cool swimming hole and returned home via Elizabethton. The trip had all elements of enjoyment - a nice drive, a short hike to an overlook, a quick pitstop at a local place for ice cream and a pretty swimming hole with waterfall. One can surely make a daytrip out of this route.
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