Barn Hollow Nature Preserve

Driveway and Features

38º 01.343' N
83º 26.629' W

At the entrance to the property you will see the National Forest Service has an official gate.  We share this as a common entrance.  The forest service had two roads entering here long ago.  The first was either a fire maintenance or logging road.  The second we have determined went to a secret cave in the forest.

We are open to offers on this precious piece of natural wilderness.

The only "road" you see when going past the National Forest Gate is our driveway.  The two "roads" that the Forest Service permits foot travel on are essentially gone to trees and fallen rocks.

Immeadialy to the left when walking up the driveway you can see the mountains cliff edge as it goes up.

The driveway proceeds to parallel highway 1274 on the east side of the mountain.  We are walking north looking at the steep rocks on the left.  This road was created with a dozer long ago and proceeds for a city block or two.

One of the unique aspects of the land are the natural rock over hangs that are seemingly all over this land.

Many of these overhangs have mini-caves and holes that go several feet back.  Some are so large you could pitch a tent and have a fire half-way up the cliff.

As you continue to the north we begin to approach the edge of the mountain leading down to Cave Branch Creek.  Off on the left you see huge rock formations.  The driveway continues to wrap around the mountain to the left.  It was at the top of these very rocks that the original owner intended to build a bluff-top house.

Right before the driveway starts the steeper climb to the top there is an area in the woods that flattens out.  These spots are rare and hard to find.  I would consider building my home down in this private spot.  It is also here that the well is located.

The size and scope of these hills and boulders cannot be captured by the angle in these photos.  These boulders pictured here are 3 times the size of an automobile.  The original highway 1274 contractors used dynamite and created this winding driveway to the top of the mountain.  This was done before the days of permits and zoning obviously!

When going up the steeper portions of the driveway there are sections of the mountain where two chunks of the earth have sepatated.  In this photo a rock about the size of a washing machine is delicatly wedged in this crack. As crazy as it seems we hiked this route to the top.

This photo is an upwards shot of one of the steeper vertical drops within the forest.

The trees and foliage in the forest are remarkable.  It has not been disturbed in quite some time.

Once again you can see the magnitude of the boulders that rolled off the mountain to form the driveway to the top.

The rock is made of a unique type of sandstone that has wild erosion pattens.  After hiking a few days in the woods we became much more proficiant in finding mini-caves and openings.  It was our original misunderstanding that these openings would be found in the bottom of the ravines.  On the contrary, we found the most interesting openings mid-way up where sandstone was exposed.

It's like swiss cheese rock.