Three weeks ago, we set out to hike up Hurricane Creek to Natural
Bridge but after running into private property ended up on Big
Piney Road to City Road 311, see: (85 Rock Creek...). Just over half a mile up City Road 311 we
crossed Rock Creek, found a spot to park and hiked up to Rock
Creek Bluff Falls. We vowed to
return to Rock Creek since the place is fantastic, there is so much more to
explore in this large area of beautiful bluffs, waterfalls, shelter
caves, rock formations and an amazing hidden box canyon.
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Big Piney access at Limestone
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I decided that day we should try coming in
from the north down City Road 311 which would take us through Limestone, once
an actual town with store and post office.
I have been curious to see Limestone for years, and if we can make it
down City Road 311 all the way to Rock Creek well, that would be a huge short-cut, compared to our usual route into the area via Parker Ridge Rd. |
Big Piney is just a creek
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About a mile and a half west of Deer we turn off Highway 16 onto Limestone
Road (NC 7450) which is a nice wide gravel road all downhill with a few switchbacks along
the way. There are some homes down here
but little else remains of what once was Limestone. We pass several rarely used dirt roads, one
to the south is City Road 311, another north is Home Valley Road, we keep going
straight on Limestone Road which after fording Home Creek comes alongside Big
Piney Creek. |
one of many interesting rocks
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There are two or three nice
spots along here with campsites and good river access for floaters, before we reach a concrete bridge crossing
Big Piney. This bridge must not be too
old as every map I have seen shows this crossing as a ‘Ford’. After crossing Big Piney this road heads up the
mountain eventually to Rosetta, a trip for another day maybe, we turn around
before the bridge and head back to City Road 311. |
White Dogtooth Violet
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I don’t know where the name came from, perhaps someone thought CR311
stood for ‘City Road 311’ the old ‘CR’ designation actually means County
Road. I did a Google search once for City
Road 311, lots of stuff on the internet for a City Road 311 in New York City
but that's it. Maybe it’s just
a joke, as you can’t hardly call this a ‘road’ at all, let alone a city
road. Officially the road is now NC 7470
although the only sign we see here at the north end off Limestone Road is for Big Piney Lodge. |
City Road 311
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We
head south on infamous City Road 311 which follows a
small creek. Soon we swing to the left
and across the little creek then immediately over a concrete low water bridge with
Curtis Creek underneath. Then up the
hill, I’m thinking this road isn’t that bad but then just past the Lodge the
road gets ‘bad’ fast. Evidently the
county maintains the road as far as Big Piney Lodge but no further. |
tree inscription with road in background
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The old western ‘The Good the Bad and the Ugly’ comes to mind when
trying to describe this road, the ‘good’ part didn’t last long only as far as
The Lodge. After that it goes back and
forth between ‘bad and ugly’ and never returns to good. From beginning to end City Road 311 is only about
five miles and the scenery which includes Big Piney Creek and lots of massive
boulders is breath-taking but the road itself, well I was holding my breath much of the way. |
another nice swimming hole
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The bad road climbs up and down over ledges of large slabs of bedrock on
the diagonal interspersed with big loose rock and washed-out
ruts, not to
mention encroaching brush. More than
once, we shift into ‘4X4 Low’ to
crawl
and squeeze between solid rock walls on the east and washed-out shear drops on
the west while climbing both diagonally and steeply over loose rock.
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wildflower
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And we can’t ever forget the ugly huge, long
mud holes everywhere, in places it’s one mud hole after the next. Many of the mud holes have detours around
them, most of these ‘detours’ are just smaller mud holes. Definitely a white-knuckle
affair, and one I
won’t soon repeat, but for those who are up for a challenging 4-Wheel adventure
City Road 311 is worth checking out. |
Big Piney swimming hole
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Along our ‘leisurely country drive’ down this scenic lane are many great
places on Big Piney Creek to camp and swim, or just stop to catch your
breath. We stop at many of them,
sometimes to let my heart rate
calm down other times to scout the road ahead
for the possibility of a ‘safe’ route onward.
At one campsite not on the banks of Big Piney but on the east side of
the road nestled near some huge boulders is an interesting beech tree with the
inscription ‘Hanging Tree 1863’. Whoever
did this carving obviously took their time and has some fine ‘penmanship’. |
early Dogwood at the 3 Vistas
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After finally crossing Rock Creek, we can
breathe easy, at least we know what to expect the rest of the way. Now don’t get me wrong, I may bitch and moan about how
bad the road is, but I wouldn’t change a thing.
That’s right, I like the road as is, if City Road 311 were ever
‘improved’ Rock Creek would be over-run with day-trippers in no time. My next trip to Rock Creek though will
involve a nice calm drive down Parker Ridge Road, I’ll leave City Road 311 for
the ATVs and dirt bikes.
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another of the 3 Vistas
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At the end of NC 7470 we head up NC 7410 better known as Parker Ridge Road
and after the third hairpin curve park at a wide spot on the road, for more on Parker Ridge see: (42 Parker Ridge). We walk back down the road maybe 100 feet to
a volunteer trail up the steep bank on the north side, this puts us right on
top of the bluffline with some great views.
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in the woods near 3 Vistas
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In a distance of less than 100 yards are three protruding rock points
each with fantastic views, ‘The 3 Vistas’ the third being the largest and most
impressive. The trail fizzles out here so we return to the road and while looking for a way down to the base of the bluffs notice an old car along with a lot of other junk below the road,
but we don’t find an ‘easy’ way down,
so we drive on. |
old car below the road
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We take our time heading back to Deer, stopping four times at
intersections with Forest Roads and walk up and down each one a short way
. Each one will someday be explored
on future hikes that we’re already planning
. Although we didn’t actually ‘hike’ we still
had a great time exploring a small piece of the Ozarks National Forest.
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