Blue Hole (inside Lamar Alexander State Park)

Blue Hole is located inside Lamar Alexander Rocky Fork State Park in Unicoi County.  Located the Cherokee National Forest, Blue Hole is reached by a narrow one way road with pull-offs. This state park is relatively new, opening in May 2015. The park was changed in January 2019 from Rocky Fork State Park to Lamar Alexander Rocky Fork State Park.

While in Johnson City, I decided to check out Rocky Fork Falls and discovered Blue Hole while looking for a place to park. Since it had rained a lot for several days leading up to our adventure, there was plenty of water flow. We passed several smaller cascades that ran alongside the road while heading toward Rocky Fork Falls and Blue Hole.

There are several pull-offs close to the cascade so you can park and walk to it. Both are located on the right side of the road and can be viewed from the road, although the view from the bottom of the steps to Blue Hole is much better.

We parked at the pull-off right next to Blue Hole. We walked down a few easy steps to the base of the cascade. It was very scenic and quiet in the park so we were able to enjoy Blue Hole and then continue on to Rocky Fork Falls all by ourselves. It’s always so much better when you can enjoy nature without a bunch of other people nearby.

We didn’t get a chance to explore much since we drove through a very large storm to get to the park and it was heading toward us. We hope to visit again in the fall and spend a little more time here exploring more of the park.

Lamar Alexander Rocky Fork State Park, located in Flag Pond, covers 2,076 acres of land in the south Appalachian Mountains of East Tennessee. The park is located approximately 30 minutes from Johnson City and Asheville.

There are several waterfalls in the area if you want to make a day trip of it. While in the area, I would recommend visiting Lower Higgins Creek Falls, Middle Spivey Falls, Lower Spivey Falls and Big Creek Falls. Lower Spivey Falls is on private property, but the owners allow viewing from behind a fence. Big Creek Falls is just a short distance away across the North Carolina state line.