The Perfect 10: Adventure Lodges We Love

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Outside Traveler Annual 2004

The Perfect 10: Adventure Lodges We Love
Tennessee

By Kimberly Lisagor


	Where Time Stands Still: Big South Fork NRA in Tennessee (courtesy, National Park Service)

CHARIT CREEK LODGE
Jamestown, Tennessee
A true wilderness retreat takes pride in what it doesn't have. At Charit Creek Lodge, there's no electricity (kerosene lanterns are everywhere), no phones (the only thing ringing at mealtime is the dinner bell), and most notably, no traffic (access is by foot, bike, or horseback).

DETAILS

Charit Creek Lodge: $54 per adult per day, including dinner and breakfast 865-429-5704, www.charitcreek.com

Room & Board: This cluster of two log cabins and a rustic main lodge is set in a gorge at the convergence of two creeks and is surrounded by the 125,000-acre Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area. Each of the buildings began as part of a 19th- or early 20th-century homestead. In the main lodge, built around an 1819 hunting cabin, two dorm-style rooms sleep up to 12 each in double-size bunks. The cabins, which also sleep 12 each, have screened porches with rockers and share a separate bath house. Classic country meals—baked beef with gravy, chicken and dumplings, biscuits and grits for breakfast—are served family style.

Out the Back Door: Charit Creek Hiking Trail, the most direct of four hiking paths to the lodge, is a 0.8-mile descent that takes you from a Fork Ridge Road parking lot to the base of a bluff, past a waterfall (in wet weather), and across a wooden bridge. Once you're at the lodge, the day-hike opportunities include 130 miles of trails lined with mountain laurel and wildflowers. Hike four miles to access 80 miles of the Big South Fork River for fly-fishing. (Bring your own gear; the catch is bass and trout.) Or tackle the river's Class III-IV whitewater on a full-day raft trip through the 11-mile Gorge section with Sheltowee Trace Outfitters.

Next Page: Tanzania

Kimberly got her first dose of outdoor adrenaline at 14, kayaking the Middle Fork of Idaho's Salmon River. Since then, she has mountain biked, hiked, camped and climbed coast to coast, with occasional hops overseas.

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