The key to understanding this park of 123,000 acres in the Cumberland Plateau is in its sandstone geology, and in its water. The 600-foot gorge carving through the heartland of the Big South Fork cradles the ever-changing river. On a calm day you will see green to blue-green water flowing lazily towards Kentucky. On a rainy spring or summer day the river will turn to its other face of a torrent of muddy soil and rock eroding the bottom gorge landscape ever deeper. With all of the years of natural erosion, the seasons have left the Big South Fork a land of plateaus cut by tributaries that lead to the gorge. These plateaus are rich with natural arches, chimneys, rock shelters, and 100-foot waterfalls.
Each season is special. The rainfall each year will average around 51 inches with March and July being the heaviest. The summer will give you the lazy warm days on both the plateaus and in the gorge. The cool laurel-laden ravines help to break the heat on warmer days. The fall will offer a magnificent display of color as the leaves begin their journey to the forest floor. From any of the many vistas, the panorama of fall color will take your breath away. The winter will give you snow to leave your footprints in and cascades of iced waterfalls to see the sun's prisms of color. Let's not forget the spring with its profusion of wildflowers and its rain that awakens the river in the gorge.
Be sure to look up the history of human existence in this area, which dates from the time of the Paleo-Indians. The geology is also very interesting. Gorge cliffs are a Rockcastle Conglomerate (sandstone, conglomerate, siltstone) that date back to the Pennsylvanian Era of time.
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