About this place

Backbone Rock Recreation Area on the Iron Mountains offers picnicking and group picnicking. It has a large reservable pavilion and a smaller non-reservable pavilion for those to enjoy with family and friends or for those who prefer solitude. They also include accessible grills, picnic tables, dumpsters and vault toilets. is located along Beaverdam Creek in northern Johnson County. Backbone Rock gets its name from a spur ridge on Holston Mountain that abrubtly ends at a bend in Beaverdam Creek. A tunnel was drilled through the rock in 1901 to allow railroad access between Shady Valley and Damascus, VA. Motorists pass through what is known as ""The Shortest Tunnel in the World"" as they travel along TN 133. In the 1930s The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) developed the recreation area for day use, constructing two picnic shelters and hiking trails that incorporated native stonework. The campground was added in the 1960s and rehabilitated in the mid 1990s. A fee is charged. From Bristol - Take US 421 south for 20 miles to Shady Valley. Turn left onto TN 133 for 8 miles to Backbone Recreation Area. From Abingdon, VA - Take US 58 east for 15 miles to Damascus. Turn right onto VA 716 for 5 miles to the recreation area (VA 716 becomes TN 133 at the stateline).