Day trips from Nashville · Park
Big South Fork
147 miles from downtown Nashville · about 2 hours 40 minutes
National Park Service, Oneida, TN and southeastern Kentucky
Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area protects a gorge system on the Cumberland Plateau with sandstone arches, whitewater and one of the best trail networks in the state. Bandy Creek is the main hub and the practical starting point.
- Visitor center
- 4564 Leatherwood Road, Oneida, TN
- Fee
- Free entrance
- Phone
- 423-569-9778
Permits, fees and access
Entrance is free and no pass is required. Charges apply for the Bandy Creek swimming pool, backcountry camping permits, picnic shelters and campground sites. Camping, backcountry permits and shelters can be reserved online in advance.
One thing to know first
This is at the outer edge of a day trip and it deserves an overnight. If you do it in a day, pick one section and accept you are not seeing the rest.
Access rules, fees and closures verified August 15, 2026 against the agency that manages this place. They change, sometimes without notice. Check before you drive.
I keep this list because it is genuinely how people spend weekends here, and because almost every guide to it is out of date. If you are weighing a move to Middle Tennessee and want to know which part of it puts you closest to the things you actually like, ask me. No pitch.