The 31st annual Big South Fork Endurance Ride. The Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area is a 120,000-acre park, which straddles the Tennessee-Kentucky line 80 miles northwest of Knoxville. The defining feature of the area is the Big South Fork of the Cumberland River. This woodland plateau has been sculpted into rugged rocky bluffs and deep gorges. The sandstone has been carved into fascinating formations of cliffs, rock shelters, arches and pillars. 

Base Camp is primitive, in a grassy field just west of the Bandy Creek complex. There is a hydrant for horse or people water and bathrooms with running water 0.3 miles from camp. Port-a-johns will also be on site. There will be a vet check station at Bandy Creek on Friday and Saturday to help evaluate the condition of the horses. Volunteer ‘timers’ will record the in/out times for the participants as they complete each loop.

Trails are well maintained, mostly wooded with excellent dirt or sandy footing and old logging roads. There is a nice mixture of easy, fast stretches, rolling slower areas and hill climbs, including several 500 ft changes in elevation. There are some rocky sections when climbing in and out of the creek and river gorges. Gravel and sandstone can be found in various areas throughout the park. There will be various loop trails of varying length for the riders to traverse. Each loop begins and ends at a vet check station. An additional vet check station will be located at the Station Camp Horse Area on Saturday as part of the endurance ride.

They offer a 25-mile and 50-mile ride on Friday and on Saturday in addition to the 25/50 mile ride the 100-miler is back for 2025. Each ‘ride’ will typically have 20-30 participants and for rides less than 50 miles most will finish. The 25 mile ride takes about 6 hours to complete while the 50-miler has a duration of 12-hours. The 100-miler is overnight (no need for overnight radio communications) as the number of riders is fewer. The riders are staggered on the course starting about 7:00AM (first light).

The event organizers will track participants and provide some limited communications within and in-between vet check stations. Riders will typically utilize their own GPS app to track their progress while on the course. Unlike a ultra-marathon there are NO aid-stations along the course.

What our radio operators should expect:

As a volunteer you are expected to be prepared to provide health/welfare information from various check points back to the main group camp which will be to the west of the Bandy Creek complex in an open field. They will have port-a-johns at the main group camp but not at any check point. The current plan is to utilize HTs or other radios to access the 145.350 Mhz repeater with a Net Control Station (NCS) located at the main group camp. Our role is to provide a means of communication from the 1/2 way check point to relay health/welfare and any emergency communication. We will record horse/rider numbers and relay that information back to Bandy Creek NCS. Cell phones are not reliable in the area but should be available at the group camp for any emergencies that may arise.

The ‘current’ plan is to have 3-4 volunteers each day to perform the radio communications at the 1/2 way point for each loop. We will be the only people at the check point as there are NO aid-stations unlike an ultra-marathon. All radio check points will be accessible by a vehicle with some requiring high-clearance or 4WD.

We will need a couple of volunteers to help augment the communications team for the event. By using the 2-meter 145.350 repeater radio operators must be licensed.  This area tends to have an abundance of ticks, chiggers and other troublesome pests. Bring and use appropriate protection for yourself and staying on trail and in mowed areas is always safest.

As a volunteer you will receive a special T-Shirt and may join the other volunteers/participants for either breakfast/lunch or dinner. There is NO cost for the shirt or meals for our radio operators.