Scott's Gulf

Scott's Gulf is a canyon situated along the Caney Fork River in White County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States.

The canyon stretches for approximately 18 miles (29 km) as the Caney Fork drops from the top of the Cumberland Plateau down to the eastern Highland Rim.

Near the old mining town of Clifty, the river veers southwest and begins cutting Scott's Gulf as it drops nearly 700 feet (210 m) in elevation in just over 5 miles (8.0 km) before its confluence with Bee Creek at the base of the gorge.

The river then calms and turns westward through the gorge's remote western section, which is characterized by steep walls and teal waters.

Lost Creek Cove is a polje, a geologic feature that consists of a very large, closed depression in karst topography where all the water drains underground.

In 1840, architect Christopher Haufmann built the Bon Air Hotel just north of Scott's Gulf where the Plateau's elevation approaches 2,000 feet (610 m).

[7] In 1886, entrepreneur George Dibrell established the Bon Air Coal, Iron, and Lumber Company at the site of the old resort to exploit the area's natural resources.

Dibrell managed to have the railroad extended from Sparta, and as demand for coal rose steadily into the 20th century, Bon Air began to boom.

As operations moved southward into Scott's Gulf, the mining towns of DeRossett, Clifty, and Eastland sprang up along the edge of the Plateau above the Caney Fork.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Bridgestone/Firestone attempted to sell the property, but withdrew its offer in the face of local opposition after a rumor spread that a potential buyer sought to log the area.

Most of the marked trailheads are located along Scott's Gulf Road, which traverses part of Chestnut Mountain a few miles south of U.S. Route 70 between Sparta and Crossville.