During the Civil War, Scott County, Tennessee, voted overwhelmingly to remain in the Union and, according to local tradition, declared itself the Free and Independent State of Scott, seceding from Tennessee after Tennessee seceded from the United States. Whether the declaration was a formal act or a defiant joke, the story is part of local pride, and Oneida, the largest town in the county, still carries a hint of that independent mountain streak. It is a working town of a few thousand people on the Cumberland Plateau, with stores, fuel and restaurants spread along US 27.
What makes Oneida worth a stop is what lies west of it: the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, a vast stretch of gorges, sandstone arches and forest straddling the Tennessee and Kentucky border. The Big South Fork of the Cumberland River has cut a deep canyon into the plateau, and the roads that reach its overlooks pass through some of the emptiest country in the eastern United States. Route 297 drops down to the river at Leatherwood Ford in a series of steep switchbacks, crosses on a low bridge and climbs out the other side, and it is a superb short ride with a picnic area and trails at the bottom.
The plateau itself is gently rolling, high enough to be cooler than the valleys of East Tennessee, with a mix of farms, pine and hardwood forest. Roads are usually quiet, with long sweeping bends broken by occasional tight corners where they drop into creek valleys. Surface quality is good on the main routes, rougher on county lanes. Coal mining and logging shaped this area, and you still see old mine roads and tipples in the hills.
As a practical stop, Oneida has everything a rider needs for a day: several gas stations, fast food and local diners, a grocery store and motels. LaFollette, the nearest larger town, is about forty kilometres southeast, but you will rarely need it. Fill up before heading into Big South Fork, where services are almost nonexistent, and keep an eye on the sky in summer, when afternoon storms move across the plateau quickly. In October the forest colour around the gorge is among the best in the region.