A beautiful day unfurled for an expedition to a familiar pause along the regular trail south. Proper reconnaissance of the situation aided immensely in arriving quickly, allowing more than enough time to enjoy the geologically contemplative 2.4 kilometre walk through the Devil’s Kitchen at Roaring River State Park.
The map made available locally lacked much detail beyond the trail outline. Undeterred, a couple just then leaving indicated the best route to be along the right fork, saving the prize for last. Trail markings were not quite what they could have been, expediting arrival at another trailhead along the west bank of Roaring River. Doubling back to a previously noted fork, another passing couple confirmed the misstep.
Having completed their journey, they offered a much better map they had obtained from a different source. While the trail map itself was equally as uninformative, it did contain a guide to all of the notable features along the way.The intended exploit into the Devil’s Kitchen suddenly became much more educated.
The first stop along the way is known as “The Bench.” This contact zone between the dolomite and limestone lurks in the background through much of the stroll, here surrounded by oak and hickory.
Small shelter caves are scattered everywhere near the second signpost. 15 of the 20 of the structures within the park are found along the bench. Bluff-dwelling tribe from 10,000 years ago once called this home and safety from the elements.
Only meters away at the third station, the living Lignite Cave carves a joint into the rock for 10 meters before narrowing to only 10 centimetres. A chimney at the back of the cave completes the abode, but buyer beware, water travels that path during heavy spring rain and extensive wet periods.
Above the bench in a dry chert woodland, the trail through marker 4 is much like walking through ground glass. The flint-like material litters the trail and surrounding landscape, hosting Ozark Chinquapin, Farkleberry, and an assortment of other undergrowth pushing up from the layers of chert.
Near the top of the ridge, several outcroppings of the sedimentary rock, layered into the limestone, are available for review along the way. In the late summer foliage, very little is visible though without a detour off the main trail.
Nearly 100 meters above the trailhead, the ridge finally tops out at a massive 414 meters above sea level. A pine woodland lies below with some trees in the grove estimated at over 225 years in age. Conditions on this south-facing slope are relatively favorable to them, with regular intense sunlight and the chert filled, acidic soil. The trail cuts back through the bench in this part, and the pines fade into Eastern red cedars, peppered with farckleberry and blueberry.
Along the way, a small spring carves a new cavity in the soft sandwich of Chattanooga shale layered between limestone and dolomite. It is much to small to explore for anyone other than the grotto salamander and likely the sustenance it requires, the cave cricket, among others.
The bench suddenly becomes broken and shattered here and there, seemingly in a slow motion tumble. Soft layers of shale within the rock keep things moving along at a fairly quick geologic pace, but to stand and watch in real time could mean death by boredom.
Evidence of this appears at the final station, Devil’s Kitchen. The massive rock falling at every angle began moving hundreds of years ago, creating a small shelter in the massive boulders. Legend says Civil War guerrillas leverage the spot for one nefarious purpose or another. It well they did not use it for long. The roof of the kitchen collapsed in 1985, and again in 2001, sealing off back entrance to the kitchen.
Red cedar, chinquapin, oaks, and blue ash escort the remainder of the way, offering up an exhibit of an array of weathering and erosion effects. While typical of much of this region and the Ozark plateau, as with any sort of karst topography, it is unique environment to this specific location.
Further Reading …
