Black Mountain Trail/Overlook — Attraction in Crab Orchard

We came up Black Mountain Rd and parked at the lot next to the cell tower. The road in is two-way traffic on a single lane width road. Be cautious and slow around the blind curves. The trail is paved at the beginning but just dirt rocks most of the way. There is a covered map area not far. The map posted was not very clear on which way to get to the overlook. Follow the signs for the main trail to the right to head uphill to the South Overlook. The trail to the left leads to the spring house and toward the Black Mountain Arches. On the main trail, there is a sign at the short spur to the overlook. If you go straight toward the overlook you will get to a 4-5' chasm in the rock. You can take a trail to left and get down to a bridge that will take you further out to the overlook edge without jumping or very large steps. As with most overlooks there are sharp drop-offs so be watchful of children and pets. The view from the South overlook is very a nice view of valley and hills. We saw what appeared to be a pair of cooling towers in the distance. These appear to be the Watts Bar Nuclear power plant in Spring City about 19mi from the overlook. On the hike we saw lots of mountain laurel which was just about ready to bloom. When we go back to the cover map display, I started off toward the Arches. There was an old house foundation not far on the trail. This trail was in worse shape than the main trail, but still passable. There were several large rock formations further down the trail. I assume those are the arches, but there was no sign to confirm this. Some of the formations are hard to see through the trees. The area was interesting with several side trails leading up and around the rock formations to explore. There is a trail behind the house foundation that also appears to lead up into the boulder area. There is a North overlook and other formations in the area that also look interesting that I would like to visit...

This was a very Private view. The road up the mountain is very narrow which makes me wonder how two vehicles pass each other. I’m glad I didn’t have to find out. Once you get to the end of the road you walk through the trail you can just walk the road all the way to the top and then go through the path behind the facility there. Follow the signs and you will find the most beautiful bridge to the most beautiful view. Kid friendly trail and overlook. There are also cool rock formations and such. I highly recommend and hope to...

Quite a spiritual place. Overlook is of course the main attraction, but if you go further and downstairs - you will find yourself in rock forest. There is a trail going town to 68 from there or - if you turn left before campground (0.2 mi from steps) you can return to the entrance along the bottom of overlook. Alternatively, you could finish the loop around the top. There is a small overlook facing west side there, but it is not as great. There are no amenities, so...