Pavement Ends
James Baughn was the webmaster of seMissourian.com and its sister newspapers for 20 years. On the side, he maintained even more sites, including Bridgehunter.com, LandmarkHunter.com, TheCapeRock.com, and Humorix. Baughn passed away in 2020 while doing one of the things he loved most: hiking in Southeast Missouri. Here is an archive of his writing about hiking and nature in our area.
Take a journey to The Promised Land
Posted Wednesday, August 24, 2011, at 10:52 AM
I staggered past a trail marker that said "DO IT."
That's an odd thing for a sign to announce, I thought, until I realized it was actually the number of the trail, "001T". The zero-zero-one is a reference to the River-to-River Trail, the primary trail through of the Shawnee National Forest. The "T" is a newly constructed loop segment in Pope County providing access to a canyon known as Cove Hollow.
It seems that almost every box canyon in Southern Illinois is called a "Cove." To avoid confusion, I prefer the more colorful nickname that rock-climbers have given to this canyon: The Promised Land.
The area is located near the rock-climbing mecca of Jackson Falls, a place so popular that it fits the old Yogi Berra expression, "Nobody goes there anymore; it's too crowded." So when climbers discovered Cove Hollow and its vertical walls, they thought they had stumbled across The Promised Land.
Now that the area can be easily reached via the River-to-River Trail and the 001T loop, it might soon become too popular. But when I visited this spring, the newly constructed trail still had loose gravel, suggesting it hadn't been widely discovered yet.
After a lazy walk through pine trees, the trail starts to get interesting as it approaches a low bluff.
Soon the trail rounds a corner and ventures deep into Cove Hollow, The Promised Land, or whatever you want to call it.
The trail sticks to the base of the bluffs, but it's hard to stay on track. Crevices and passageways provide plenty of excuses to head off the trail.
These narrow passages lead to hidden rooms with walls that come together at seemingly unnatural angles. This must be a suburb of Giant City.
Pinnacles and other gravity-defying formations rise above the trail.
The 001T trail follows a winding, but carefully engineered, path through the canyon before back-tracking toward the River-to-River Trail. I knew this main trail continued to other scenic wonders, including Bay Creek Lake and Jackson Falls. Despite the subliminal message to "DO IT", however, I was too exhausted from exploring The Promised Land to go on.
Driving directions
From Cape Girardeau, cross the Emerson Bridge and follow Highway 146 through McClure, Ware, Anna, and Vienna. Just beyond the interchange with I-24, turn left on Highway 147. At the town of Simpson, turn left on Trigg Tower Road (Forest Road 424). Follow this road 4.2 miles past Trigg Fire Tower and through a series of zigzags. Finally the road will zag to the left, with a parking area on the left. Park here and walk across the road to the trailhead for the River-to-River Trail.
Follow this trail, keeping an eye out for the white diamond 001 trail markers. Eventually a second trail, marked as 001T, will fork to the left. Take this trail into the Promised Land. After exploring the area, you can either backtrack along the trail, or continue on 001T as it eventually loops back to the main trail. In either case, turn right to return to the trailhead.
This excerpt from the Forest Service's Eddyville Vicinity Interim Trail Map shows the new 001T trail.
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