Feb 19, 22, and 24, 2025
All the trails in this State Park are considered part of “the” National Recreation Trail. In such cases, when an entire network of park trails are lumped into one NRT designation, I hike enough to feel I have a good sense of the area.
Savage Gulf State Park’s trails are included in this NRT designation, by the way. Savage Gulf and South Cumberland used to be one big state park. Savage Gulf is also designated as a National Natural Landmark. I’ll make a separate post for those hikes.
Sherwood Day Loop Trail. Feb 19, 2025. It snowed a few inches the day before I did this hike, but thankfully I did just fine in my trail runners. This 2.9 mile loop was a nice stroll through the forest with boulders and ridge outlooks along the way.
Fiery Gizzard Trail, northern half. Fiery Gizzard and Dog’s Hole loop going past Anderson Falls. 13.4 miles with 1750 feet of elevation gain. Feb 22, 2025.
Fun fun fun! This was the best hike I have experienced since leaving the White Mountains. Waterfalls (including one you have to hike behind using chains so you don’t fall), narrow trails by drop-offs, steep ups and downs, scenic viewpoints, rocky (in some parts) footing, ridge walking. Loved it!
Also, I have started wearing my backpacking pack again. Not full pack weight just yet, but each week or two I will add a pound.
The southern half of Fiery Gizzard, which I hiked two days later on Feb 24, is much easier than the northern half, and there are gorgeous waterfall views as soon as you start the trail. The only non-easy bit is a steep descent and ascent into/out of a waterfall area about three miles into the hike. Wasn’t that bad.
