Promoting the development and enjoyment of Tennessee trails.
Saturday, December 2 — Raccoon Mountain: Laurel Point and several trails. Shorter hike 4 miles, longer hike an extra 3 miles or so, both easy—we’ll be hiking entirely atop the mountain with very little elevation change. It is almost all in the woods, with a couple of brief open spots on the trail that provide some […]
Tuesday, December 5 — Lookout Mountain: Hardy Trail, Mountain Beautiful Trail, Bluff Trail, Craven’s House Trail, loop, 3.9 miles, easy/moderate, 731’ el. gain. We'll start at Cravens House and wind our way across and up the east side of Lookout Mountain, go under the Point Park Bluff and back around to Cravens House. Since it is December, we […]
Saturday, December 9 — Gilbert Gaul Loop, Fall Creek Falls State Park, 4.5 miles, loop, easy to moderate, 100’ el. gain. Following this hike, there will also be an optional exploratory hike to Woodcock Cove climbing trails above Dunlap, around 3-5 miles, with one short but steep section. The first hike to Gilbert Gaul Loop has rolling hills, with […]
Tuesday, December 12 — Sherwood Forest, 2.7 miles, loop, easy. We will see impressive rock formations and a nice view of the steep railroad track where the trains needed pusher engines to chug up the mountain. Naturalists should look for the rare Painted Snake Coiled Forest Snail (!!) which has only been found in Franklin […]
Saturday, December 16 — Franklin State Forest South Rim loop, 6.3 miles, moderate, 662’ el. gain. This hike west of South Pittsburg takes us through a hardwood forest to a southeastern edge of the Cumberland Plateau, overlooking coves and eaten out by gulches. For carpooling/caravanning, meet at 8:30 am ET at the parking lot just after LaQuinta Inn, […]
Tuesday, December 19 – Enterprise South Nature Park: Poe Run Path, Upper Poe Run, Poe Run Overlook, Deer Hollow, and Hidden Lake Trails, easy to moderate, approximately 4 miles, el. gain 420’. Enjoy this beautiful park, which was once the site of the Volunteer Army Ammunitions Plant. We will check out one of the open […]
Saturday, December 23 — Boyd Gap to Brush Creek Trail in the Cherokee National Forest, 6 miles, moderate, 600’ el. gain, plus an optional second hike on the Scenic Spur Trail, starting at the foot of Chilhowee Mountain, 3.3 miles, easy, 393’ el. gain. The first hike involves an easy shuttle, a few creek crossings […]
Tuesday December 26 — Summit Knobs Trail, about 5 miles, easy, in-and-out. This hike bobs up and down gentle hills as it makes its way to Harrison Branch creek, our turnaround point. The full name of the trail is Summit Knobs Equestrian Trail—we’ll have to watch our step! Restrooms are available. For carpooling/ caravanning, meet at […]
Saturday, December 30 — Laurel Falls, Bryan Overlook, and a hidden natural bridge, about 8 miles, moderate, about 900’ el. gain, out-and-back. We’ll walk by interesting remnants of mining activity along wild and wooly Richland Creek and take switchbacks to Laurel Falls, which is almost always impressive. We’ll then head up a steep trail to […]
Board Camp Creek, about 8 miles, moderate. Short shuttle. We'll start this hike at the Soddy Gulf trailhead in Soddy-Daisy. A flat one-mile walk along Big Soddy Creek takes us to Board Camp Creek (what a weird name!), which we cross to get to the Cumberland Trail. This section of the CT roughly follows Board […]
Tuesday, January 2 – White Oak Mountain trails just north of Chattanooga, approximately 4.5 miles, moderate, about 630’ el. gain. We’ll hike Dogwood, Krebs Cycle, Black Bear, and parts of Big Red and Christmas Top trails. Enjoy these beautiful trails, which are part of the Southern Adventist University campus but open to the public. We […]
Saturday, January 6 — Hinch Mountain Section of the Cumberland Trail, 8 to 9 miles, out-and-back, moderately strenuous. Starting at Stinging Fork Falls trailhead, we will explore this new section of the Cumberland Trail that turns off Stinging Fork trail and heads north towards Hinch Mountain. We will cross Stinging Fork Creek and Little Soak Creek, descend a rock stairway, walk through a pine forest, and ascend the gorge. We will return by retracing our steps. Check the weather forecast and choose […]
