Volunteers make safety improvements to Laurel Run waterfall, new bridge

CHURCH HILL — A new bridge leading to the Laurel Run waterfall in Hawkins County is now safer to access thanks to "steps" taken this past Saturday by a group of volunteers from the Tennessee Eastman Hiking and Canoeing Club — also known as the "Trail Gorillas."Earlier this year, Hawkins County, the city of Kingsport and Bays Mountain Park partnered to build a new walking bridge across Laurel Run Creek on the trail to the popular waterfall near Church Hill. The bridge construction was funded with a $100,000 state grant awarded in 2024.There are actually two waterfalls about a mile hike from the Laurel Run Park trail head. The new bridge is located about halfway between the parking lot and the first waterfall, and provides a dry crossing for hikers who previously had to ford the creek at that location.On the park side of the bridge, however, there was a steep downward slope to access the bridge, which was hazardous in the best of conditions, but especially risky when wet and slick.It also appeared that erosion had already taken a toll on the waterfall side of the bridge, creating a narrow transition back onto the trail.On Saturday, a group of about 25 "Trail Gorillas" converged on the Laurel Run trail with picks and shovels. The plan was to build steps down the steep slope on the park side of the bridge, as well as a stone and earth ramp on the waterfall side of the trail.Trail Gorilla and retired Eastman engineer Tony Messina noted that the steps were made out of Locust trees, which will last for decades."The grant built an awesome bridge, but but wasn't sufficient to put the approach trail to and from the bridge," Messina said. "We're going to put in steps on this (park) side, and we're going to put a ramp on that side. We're going to use natural materials. Locust is like nature's own treated lumber. It will last in the ground for 50 years. That's why a lot of farmers use it for fence posts."Aside from the bridge project, they also removed fallen trees and other debris just upstream that could potentially damage the bridge during heavy rain. Another team continued up the trail to the first waterfall, where they cut down a dead tree beside the waterfall pool.That dead tree, which hikers would recognize as headily laden with graffiti carved into the wood, was a safety risk for fallen limbs.On Friday, Trail Gorilla Wesley Miller supervised a group of Hawkins County Jail inmates who helped build a sidewalk out of stones to help hikers get past the muddier parts of the Laurel Run trail.Miller noted that he met an elderly hiker Friday who hadn't been to the waterfall since the new bridge was built.Miller added, "He said, 'How bad is it? How wet am I going to get crossing the creek today?' I said, 'You don't know, do you? They built a new bridge in January and February'. When I told that man he'd never have to get wet again crossing this creek, it just tickled him to death. I've crossed that creek when it was over my belly button."Aside from maintaining hiking trails between Bays Mountain and Laurel Run Park, the Trail Gorillas maintain about 134 miles of the Appalachian Trail north of the Virginia/North Carolina state line.Messina noted that they use the same trail maintenance technique at Laurel Run and Bays Mountain that are used on the Appalachian Trail, utilizing a lot of natural materials salvaged from the area.