Sugar Hill Trail to Guest River Gorge

I'll have trail developer and local attorney/environmentalist Frank Kilgore to guide me and tell me about some of the special history and unique geologic and geographic features along the way. Things like the St. Paul Fault that divides limestone rock from coal, creating the boundary of the coal country area along the Russell County/Wise county border. To the north and west lies Wise county, a big coal producer. The limestone plate on the Russell County side was thrust over the younger coal plate on the Wise County side more than 200 million years ago during the Paleozoic Era. We'll be able to see the division of the coal and limestone plate along the trail.

Another interesting site that we will investigate along the Sugar Hill Loop Trail is the French settlement dating back to 1791. Coal was big business back then too as evidenced by a Frenchman named Francois Pierre de Tuboeuf who bought a hand-hewn cedar log house here in hopes of harvesting some of the rich coal resources. (The remains of the original house were still standing until 1976 when vandals burned the site.) The Frenchman bought the house from John English, whose family had been killed by Indians. The settlement was named "St. Marie on the Clinch" and plans were made for additional French settlers to develop the nearby Miller's Yard. Before this could happen however, baron Tuboeuf was killed by white thieves. The murderers were tried and convicted in Russell County and the Baron's family left the area. In the 1930's a maple syrup sugaring operation was started here, giving the trail it's current name of Sugar Hill Loop.

Some of the common trees we will see are Sycamore, Ash, Shagbark Hickory, Wild Cherry, Black Walnut, American Beech, Northern Red Oak, Sweet Birch, Black Birch, Mountain Magnolia, Yellow Poplar, White Oak, Red Maple, Cucumber Tree, Black Oak, Sassafras, Yellow Buckeye, Kentucky Coffee Tree, American Basswood, Hackberry and Sugar Maple.