Enclosure Trail | 1.40 Mile Loop
Enclosure Trail Map | AllTrails
Old Stone Fort State Park Trail Map
Old Stone Fort State Park Location | Google Maps
Situated in Coffee County on the outskirts of Manchester, Tennessee, Old Stone Fort State Archeological Park is a renowned waterfall chasing destination given its close proximity to Rutledge Falls and Machine Falls in Short Springs Natural Area. On this particular trip, we’ll be exploring the numerous waterfalls in the park and taking a close look at some of the historic and prehistoric stone ruins found along its most popular trail, the 1.40 mile Enclosure Trail. Though the parks brochure and map states this is a 1.40 mile loop, others and myself included found it to be closer to 2.75 miles long. The parks main entrance off U.S. Highway 41 winds its way towards a large parking lot with a picnic pavilion and playground just past the trestle bridge leading to the campgrounds. As our first stop here, we took the short self-guided tour of several archeological exhibits within the parks museum to get a better understanding of the areas cultural and historic significance.
Museum
It is safe to say that until pretty recently, no one really understood what Old Stone Fort represented or whom built it in the first place. The only clue anyone had to go off of was an ornate hand-carved stone pipe discovered by an archeologist digging through a collapsed section of the stone wall in 1876. Named the Raptor Pipe, this finely carved pice of stone in the shape of an eagle quickly became the iconic symbol of the area and now sits in a permanent collection within the Smithsonian Museum. Puzzled by the phenomenon of mounds and stone forts, archeologists in the early 1800’s helped to perpetuate a widely held theory that a lost race of people known as “The Moundbuilders” were responsible for creating many of the unexplained structures found throughout the Southeastern United States. Other theories floated around suggested that the ruins were the work of early European explorers such as Vikings, Welsh explorers, Hernando de Soto’s soldiers, Spanish pirates, and even a Lost Tribe of Israel.
These theories were widely accepted as fact until renewed interest in the Old Stone Fort Site beginning in the 1960’s, when archeologists from the University of Tennessee were able to meticulously verify that Native Americans did in fact build the prehistoric walled mounds at Old Stone Fort. One of the biggest shocks to come from the modern excavations was the realization that Old Stone Fort was not a fort in the traditional sense, but could in fact be a ceremonial site of spiritual significance like the stone fort site at Giant City State Park. Unlike the usual refuse of animal bones, stone tools, or imprint of structures, the 50 acre promontory was mostly devoid of any cultural artifacts one would find within a permanent settlement.
Constructed during the Middle Woodland Period 2,000 years ago, Old Stone Fort was part of a system of 25 known settlements existing along the Duck River Valley. An archeological dig roughly one mile away at The McFarland Site years later, would yield evidence of a densely habited settlement which scholars believe could be the dwelling place of the builders of Old Stone Fort. Pictured within the museum are renderings of how scholars believe the original structure might have looked like during its heyday. One of my favorite parts was getting to walk inside the replica of a “Double-Oven Home” utilized mainly by eastern Native American tribes. Covered entirely with bark and adorned with animal pelts and replicas of prehistoric stone tools, it helped to form an image of what the area could have appeared as it was buzzing with the tasks of daily life thousands of years ago. Anyone with interest in visiting prehistoric rock art, mounds and stone fort sites should check out our articles on Piney Creek Ravine "Rock Art Site", Giant City Stone Fort Site, Millstone Bluff State Archeological Site, and Hemlock Cliffs Rockshelter in the Hoosier National Forest.
Gateway & Enclosure Trail (1.40 Miles)
Leaving the museum, you can walk out the back and onto a ramp on the buildings roof with an overlook of the Duck River and the man-made waterfall cascading over its dam. From the top, you also get a good vantage point of the forts gateway, which from down low looks simply like a mound of dirt. The mound walls forming the outer perimeter of the enclosure approach each other here and swell into triangular shaped mounds. If you skip on reading the informational signs, you would walk right past them and be oblivious to their existence. This is the ceremonial “gateway” or entrance into the fort. The wide dirt trail leading through the center of this, out towards a large expansive field off in the distance is the start of the 1.40 Enclosure Trail. It is a significant portion of the fort and considered a “complex within a complex”.
Adding to the theory that Old Stone Fort was of spiritual significance, it was discovered that this gateway is just one degree off from a perfect alignment with the rising sun during the summer solstice. Stepping out from the forest, the entire 50 acre space of the stone fort opens up right in front of you. Those looking to simply take a short stroll through the park could follow the mown path as it loops through the fields. This time of year plenty of wildflowers are in bloom amongst the tall grasses, making it a beautiful and serene walk. No mounds have been discovered within the enclosure so the area is pretty flat and open to wander through. Anyone wanting to check out the waterfalls and more of the ruins will want to continue on the Enclosure Trail by turning left or right on the 1.40 mile loop which meets at this very spot. We decided to turn RIGHT and begin by heading straight for Bluehole Falls.
Bluehole Falls (30’ ft)
It’s a quick downhill hike to get to Bluehole Falls from the gateway, but you’ll have to keep a lookout for the trail heading down to it. Surrounding the Enclosure Trail are a handful of user made trails along the cliff overlooking the Duck River. Most of these lead down to the banks of the river where visitors can get a more upfront view of the lower cascades, waterfalls, and a few hidden rock shelters. The first side trail cutting RIGHT towards the river will meet up with a longer spur of the Enclosure Trail. Here one has to descend a series of switchbacks and double back in the direction of the Visitors Center until reaching the sign for Bluehole Falls. Washing over a horseshoe shaped cliff, Bluehole Falls is the widest waterfall in Old Stone State Park. At 30 feet high, it doesn’t appear to be that tall in person as it is stretched out over several cascades that look like giant steps. With a heavy enough rain, its entire 60 foot width could put on a spectacular show.
Situated downstream from the dam, the right half of Bluehole Falls has a nice flow year round. Most people will only get to experience this waterfall from the far righthand corner where the trail drops you off, but there are different ways to view it. Those comfortable with scrambling down into the ravine can descend the rough trail downstream from Bluehole Falls. Alternatively, if you continue a little past the precipice of the falls, you can even skip your way across to the other side of the Duck River when the water level is low enough. From here, it’s an easier way to the bottom of the falls and you can even get up close to the dams waterfall. The entire riverbed has channels cut into it by the flowing river that make it look like a huge checkerboard, with plants tucked neatly into the gaps.
Paper Mill Ruins
After viewing Bluehole Falls, we continued heading south on the Enclosure Trail another 100 yards until we could see the ruins just off in the distance. Due to their consistent, year round flows the Big Duck and Little Duck Rivers were both heavily utilized in Manchesters early industrial history. Prior to the outbreak of the Civil War, W.S. Whitman built a Paper Mill at this location, which was later sold to the Hickerson and Wooten families whom created the Old Stone Fort Paper Company. Originally creating paper from old linens and cotton strips, the rag mill was later converted into the Main Mill for a wood sourced paper. The new owners expanded the operation by building a second smaller mill to process wood pulp closer to the precipice of Big Falls, known as the Pulp Mill.
Further downstream past the parks boundary The Stone Fort Paper Company built a third Wrapping Mill where brown wrapping paper was made. Though the ruins of both mills still exist, those of the Main Mill are larger and much more impressive. Visitors can climb inside the ruins of the stone foundation and even find what’s left of steel chains and wrought iron stakes still impeded in the dirt. At this point of the Enclosure Trail, you are actually walking atop part of the mound wall that wraps around the stone fort. These 6 foot high embankments look like natural formations, but underneath all of the packed dirt are rows of stacked stone creating a stable foundation.
Big Falls (30’ ft) & 2 Unnamed Waterfalls
the Enclosure Trail, we descend a wood staircase leading down the earthen walled enclosure and reach an overlook of Big Falls. There are two different sections to this waterfall once you take the short scramble down to the banks of the Duck River. Upstream is a smaller unnamed waterfall that drops 8 feet into a shallow wading pool. You’ll find this spot crowded with hikers in the summer as it makes a great place to cool off. If you visit just after a heavy rain, this area becomes inundated with a handful of interesting waterfalls pouring out from the side of the cliffs and rock outcroppings along the river. Walking through the area I happen to notice several heavy streams flowing over the side of a cliff across from Big Falls. Upon further investigating it, I was stunned to realize they were pouring out from caves underneath the wooded ridge, similar to Twin Falls in Rock Island State Park.
Even with all of the interesting cascades nearby, Big Falls 30 foot plunge takes the cake. This chute style waterfall travels from the calm pool above, into a narrow chute where it tumbles over two separate ledges to the river below. There is no clear way down to the bottom of the falls from here, so anyone interested in making their way down will have to hike roughly 0.25 mile past the falls on the Enclosure Trail and take a series of narrow switchbacks down to the river bank. This is a 0.30 mile long trail that fishermen often use to get to the Duck river named the Forks of The River Trail.
Nearby Trails
Past Big Falls, the Enclosure Trail curves east as it traces directly over top of the earthen wall. The peninsula making up the heart of the park is shaped like a boot, similarly to the country of Italy, with its northern section and the heel (Sicily) separated by a steep valley which was once the main channel for the Little Duck River. At only 0.45 miles long, the Moat Trail traverses this abandoned river channel running parallel to the western wall of the Old Stone Fort. On the other side of this is what’s known as Backbone Ridge. The 1.25 mile Backbone Trail is an extension of the main interpretive trail and explores a remote area of the peninsula archeologists believe might also have played a significant role in the ceremonies conducted here.
Big Duck & Little Duck Rivers
While these two rivers played an important role in the modern industrialization of the Southeast, they were also crucial for the survival of early hunter-gatherers in the area. The Duck River is one of North Americas most biologically diverse freshwater streams. It contains more species of fish and freshwater mollusks than all of the rivers of Europe combined. On top of that it also has more fish varieties than any other river on the North American Continent, which could explain why prehistoric people might have been drawn to settle in its river valley.
The McFarland and Owl Hollow cultures of the upper Duck River Valley are whom archeologists believe were responsible for building the Old Stone Fort Site. Small village sites of these early farming and pottery-making people were excavated by University of Tennessee archaeologists in the nearby Normandy Reservoir before inundation in 1976. As extensive radiocarbon dating from these villages attests, the McFarland people inhabited the upper Duck Valley between 200 B.C. and 200 A.D., with the Owl Hollow people succeeding them between 200 A.D. and 600 A.D. The McFarland culture apparently began constructing the Old Stone Fort in the first century A.D., the enclosure being completed almost five hundred years later by the Owl Hollow culture.
Radiocarbon evidence discovered here closely correlate with the construction dates of similar hilltop enclosure sites such as Fort Ancient in Warren County, Ohio. The Ohio enclosures are now known to have been constructed by the Hopewell people, a mound-building group of Native Americans who were in contact with cultures in the Southeast during the Middle Woodland period of North American prehistory about two thousand years ago.
Little (Step) Falls (30’ ft)
As we round our way north on the Enclosure Trail back towards the Museum and parking lot, there is one last waterfall to visit…. or two depending on how you measure it. To get to Little (Step) Falls, you have to veer RIGHT off the Enclosure Trail and onto an unnamed trail that runs parallel to it. Again, you are now walking below the mound wall with the enclosure trail slightly above you. Walking this path can get a little sketchy as most of is barely wide enough for one person to walk on and the whole right side of it is one giant drop off. Keep watch over young children on this one. The first section of Step Falls we encounter might be the most photogenic in the park. I happen to find a really great overlook of this 30 foot waterfall on a badly eroded cliff just in front of it. Standing there tied my stomach into knots, but it was all worth it for the shots. Plus I happen to capture a group of hikers cliff diving into the falls.
Further ahead is a path leading down a rock scramble to the middle of Little Step Falls and the riverbed leading to the top drop. On most databases, both of these waterfall are considered as one since they’re so close together, but they could not be any more different. During calmer flows, it’s possible to walk and play in the gentle rapids between the two waterfalls. The thought behind it is that the succession of these two waterfalls plus a smaller third cascade upstream makes it look like a staircase with the waterfalls being the “steps” down. I found the upper falls a little more difficult to shoot as half of it is in deep shade and the other half in full blaring sunlight. With a little more time to kill, this is a scenic spot I could see myself hanging out at getting my feet wet for a little bit.
All told, including all of our side adventures to view the waterfalls and ruins, this hike took us 1 hr 30 mins to complete and we hardly broke a sweat. It’s a trail anyone can attempt with a ton to see and explore. Up next, we’re headed over to one of the larger waterfalls in the area, Rutledge Falls. Not a public park at all, this waterfall resides in a family backyard and is open to the public through pure generosity. This is a classic roadside waterfall with a 5 minute walk and short scramble down to its secluded location. Stay tuned as we keep seeking out the hidden gems within Coffee County, Tennessee and as always, see y’all on the trails!
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