6 waterfalls in one day? Yes, please!
The Grundy Day Loop and Sycamore Falls spur is a perfect hiking day.
Ok, I actually don’t even know where to start here. There were so many great and interesting things packed into this day at South Cumberland State Park! The park is over 30K acres over 4 counties and is broken up into several smaller sections. I picked the Grundy Day Loop hike with the side trip to Sycamore Falls. I logged about 5 miles that day, although it is advertised as closer to 3. This trail is a part of the longer Fiery Gizzard Trail, which is 12.5 miles, and I probably won’t be attempting! It was named by Backpacker Magazine as one of top 25 trails in the US, so if you are able, you should really plan to do the whole thing.
The Grundy Forest Trailhead is in Tracy City, on the Cumberland Plateau. Sharon drove and chose the back road option to get up the mountain. It was pretty steep with a few switchbacks but not too bad. What surprised us was the ice and snow that we found on the plateau. It was cold in our town, but I didn’t think about the altitude change. I am glad I didn’t, because I might not have ventured out if I knew there was ice on the trail. In the end it was fine, but a good reminder to check conditions of where you are going, not where you started.
The Grundy Day Loop runs along the Little and Big Fiery Gizzard creeks. There are so many cascades and falls including School Branch Falls, Hanes Hole Falls, Blue Hole Falls, and Zenner Falls. The sound of rushing water is with you on the whole hike. The two creeks meet at the Black Canyon Cascade. It is a wonderful, narrow 15 ft channel, and as the name suggests, black in color. I didn’t see a way to get to the bottom safely, but the top is spectacular enough.
If you continue on the Fiery Gizzard Trail, it is just a half mile to Sycamore Falls. The day we went, the water was flowing great. It is only 12 feet but seemed bigger. It is hard to see in the picture, but there was also water flowing in from the top of the gorge. Sharon and I ran into some older people at the falls. One of the ladies was 80 years old, and she had been visiting the area since she was a girl. Such an inspiration-I hope to be that lady!
The waterfalls are amazing, but the unsung heroes are the amazing rock features of this area. Caves, chimney rock formations, and crazy square rocks add much dimension to the Grundy Day Loop. I can only imagine what the rest of the Fiery Gizzard Trail looks like.
I am really enjoying winter hiking this year. Without leaves on the trees, you can really see the water and rocks more clearly. I have also downloaded the Avenza app, which provides maps and location tools for TN State Parks. I will post more on this tool soon. Thanks for reading the blog, and please pass on to your friends!
