Windrock Park pin

After Christmas, my family and I decided last minute to have a mini vacation at Windrock Park in Oliver Springs, Tennessee. We lucked out and the weather was just great. In fact, it was unseasonably warm but not hot. Perfect riding weather.

I’ve taken so many photos of this beautiful place, so it was hard to whittle it down to the twenty something I’ve put on here. So I’ll try to keep my commentary short. Just enjoy the photos and there’s 2 short videos at the end.

beautiful scenery at Windrock Park

Beautiful scenery was at every turn.

valley view at Windrock

Long sweeping views of distant mountains were so beautiful. It made me want to just sit and look at everything below.

pretty view at Windrock

The atmosphere was just a little smoky. My son and husband had been there in October and said it was really foggy and you couldn’t see very well. I was glad I could see the distant mountains although I do love to see fog.

wind turbines in the distance
Wind turbines in the distance

There were wind turbines at the top of a ridge. We drove up as close to them as we could. It was incredible how tall and massive these things are. In my county, they are proposing a wind turbine farm and the county is split as to who wants them and who doesn’t. I know I don’t want them around my property. They make a weird sound and I think that would drive me nuts.

wind turbines
My son on his motorcycle under the turbines for scale

My son counted 18 wind turbines.

trails around rocks

There were a lot of trails along side of the mountains. I could see veins of coal in the the rocks and places where someone had tried to dig the coal out. Big holes drilled into the vein. It’s really cool seeing all the rock formations.

waterfall on trail

Then there were a lot of waterfalls. Of course I had to take a lot of photos of them. It had been almost a week since it had rained here, so I can only imagine what it looks like with a fresh rain.

Trail riding at Windrock
winding creek

We crossed quite a bit of gently flowing water. There is a quiet beauty about being in the woods during winter. Of course there was nothing quiet about us with the two side by sides and my sons motorcycle but we did stop to take breaks and it was nice.

crossing a creek
crossing more water
large rocks at Windrock
more cool rocks
creek with waterfall
creek with rushing water
waterfall at Windrock Park

Beauty was everywhere.

Pointy mountain at Windrock
A pointy mountain we could see from many trails
mountains in the distance

The last day we were there we went down a trail that had a small section marked Black Diamond which means very difficult although we didn’t know it was Black Diamond. We came upon a couple of side by sides parked blocking the trail so we got out to see if they needed help. Turns out they were winching each other up the trails. One guy was already fixing his side by side at the top of it after winching himself up and told us it was called The Devil’s Elbow. No thank you. These big toys are way too expensive to take that chance. Not to mention I’d rather not go cart-wheeling down the mountain.

Devil's Elbow at Windrock
Not us!
Taking a break at Windrock
My boys
Motorcycle at Windrock
My kid.
selfies at Windrock
Me and the hubs (my other big kid)
Riding at Windrock
Fun at Windrock Park

We had a great time. But I missed my friend, Robin, who is usually with us. She’s the wife of Bryan, the guy in red. Her dad is in the hospital and she needed to be with him which is understandable. We hope to go back this coming summer.

It was a little different than the place we’ve gone to in the past, Brimstone, which I’ve written about before here and here. The mountains seemed bigger somehow even though it’s in the same mountain range.

It’s fun seeing how Asher has grown through the trips. He started out on a 4-wheeler and now all he wants to ride is the motorcycle. He was so little on our first trip! And now he’s a little taller than I am. *sigh* Slow down time, slow down.

Well if I don’t see you later, Happy New Year’s Eve!


⬅︎ Art Exhibit Opening at Cook Mansion

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Learn more about me on the ‘About’ page under the additional links menu. I’m an artist – a painter mostly and an avid gardener. I paint a variety of subjects including birds, koi fish, my gardens, ponds and flowers as well as anything having to do with nature especially trees and tropical scenes. I also enjoy painting abstracts and have started created more and more of them. My most favorite thing to try to achieve in my painting is is mystery and telling mystical stories.

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