This is kind of a strange park as several sites are distributed widely but considered under the same umbrella. I visited several, including their headquarters with a wounded hawk at the entrance, a rainforest-y loop trail, and a splendid-looking waterfall. Individually, the sites were nice but not the best the state has to offer, but when one considers the sum total of various environs and the fact that Tennessee state parks do not charge admission, I struggle to criticize. I noted that a park ranger gently pushed someone to leash their dog on the trail without getting into a confrontation. read more

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Denny Cove Falls trail is a wonderful, moderate hike. Out & back to a gorgeous waterfall. The trail is well marked and maintained. It's a long gravel road to the parking lot dedicated just to this particular trailhead. read more

South Cumberland State Park - Trail markers - Hiking Near Me - Monteagle, Tennessee

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The park is great. I agree that it can be a bit confusing that the park has several different locations that make it confusing to understand. the park facilities look old and in need of maintenance but the main point, the natural beauty is top notch. read more

This park was wonderful, when you enter they have an information center with restrooms. We picked up a park map at the information center. There are tons of hiking trails of different difficulty levels. If you plan on hiking to the base of waterfalls make sure you have proper footwear. We also enjoyed all the overlook spots. read more

South Cumberland State Park - Hiking Near Me - Monteagle, Tennessee

This may now be one of my all-time favorite state parks and hiking areas. Spent a weekend here and was not at ALL disappointed. Checked out the Savage Gulf area as well as the Fiery Gizzard trail. As much as I loved Savage Gulf and the Stone Door trail (a must-see), it felt like we entered another world on the Fiery Gizzard trail. There are some pretty serious issues with erosion and mud-slides toward the middle portion of the trail starting from the north end before you hit raven point, and I hope the park is evaluating how to solve these issues to both keep hikers safe and the environment in-tact and as unaffected as possible. Otherwise, though, this is the best trail I've been fortunate enough to hike to-date. From the rock scrambles, to the moss covered everything and the roaring river (we visited after it had been raining substantially for a few weeks), this area will more than live up to your expectations. Make sure you stop by the visitor center as well as the staff there are INCREDIBLY knowledgeable and helpful for planning your day/weekend in the area. read more

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Came here on a Tuesday morning around 8AM to do Fiery Gizzard to Raven's Point, no other cars in the parking lot although I saw a ranger cleaning out the bathroom. Hike was pretty well-marked with the white trail markers, and there were signs at every intersection which was helpful. The trail was pretty flat and a bit muddy, some steep parts sometimes but nothing too bad. View at Raven's Point was pretty good, trees were all dead though as expected. Waterfalls were really small, not too interesting. I did like being next to the river for a lot of it though! read more

We did a hike in the Fiery Gizzard South/Foster Falls area of the park and it was beautiful. I highly recommend bringing a lightweight towel and maybe water shoes if you plan to swim out to the waterfall--which was amazing!! Absolutely would do that again. The trail was well marked and the park site and trail head marker gave great descriptions of all the trails. I wouldn't recommend this area for young kids, the hike was more moderate/difficult in some spots. We could not find an actual clear map of all the trails so were left a little confused on exactly what trail we were on or if it would have connected with others, but overall it was great. read more

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South Cumberland State Park is HUGE. It's 30,000 acres, and spans over FOUR Tennessee counties. It has five small lakes, picnic tables, grills, pavilions, tennis courts, basketball courts, volleyball courts, a baseball diamond, a gift shop, a museum, a cabin, campsites, rock climbing, rappelling, boating, and swimming. Oh, and lest we forget... over 90 miles of hiking. The 12 mile, one way trail, the Fiery Gizzard, is considered one of the best trails in the country. We know it was established in 1978, and there are sites showing old coal ovens and other historic sites. I can't wait to come back again... and again.. and again. read more

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FIERY GIZZARD and GRUNDY TRAILHEADS in South Cumberland Recreation Area Sunday, January 19th, 2014 Tony and I went hiking in the South Cumberland State Park at the Grundy Trail Nature Area in Tracy City . It took us 2 1/2 hrs to hike 3.2 miles. Not too bad for 2 people over 50 with heart conditions... Directions: I-24 exit 134 Monteagle, take Rt 41South to Tracy City. On Right turn on 3rd street go to the Tracy City Elementary School, just past you will turn Right on Marion Street, go back to the Brown sign showing Fiery Gizzard Trail back near the softball field for the school, you will see on the left parking spots paved with bathrooms, shelter with picnic tables and signs.. Sign in to let them know you are hiking. Two trails one near the sign where you register marked Fiery Gizzard and the second located between the shelter picnic area and the bathrooms that is label : Grundy Trail 2.0 mile loop following the white tag markers 1/2 mile in there is a CCC campsite following blue marker trail to the Right Free Camping available no electric, primitive sites 1 mile into the hike you will come to the Hanes Waterfall 6' ft and swimming hole after you take the steps (approximately 24) down to the water's edge. Another .3 miles you will arrive at the bridge crossing, through an area referred to as Black Canyon, this will take you further into the park for hiking but if you venture .2 miles you will arrive at another waterfall, Chimney Rocks Waterfall, which is 20' ft drop into the narrow canyon and then an additional .4 miles to the Sycamore Falls, which is a 12' ft fall with gorgeous swimming hole. From here you can continue on the left to the Dog Hole Trail... At this point, we double back .6 miles back to the bridge and mada a Right to then continue on the White marker path back towards the parking lot .7 miles. On this part of the trail you will pass the Blue Hole Waterfall 9' high and swimming hole is 7' ft deep and the Cave Spring Rockhouse overhang rock cliff with the Hemlock Tree over 500 plus yrs. before climbing back to the parking lot and ending up at the Fiery Gizzard Trailhead. If you walk this entirely to the Sycamore falls and back to the parking lot you will have hiked 3.2 miles. Some of it is very narrow with high steep drops to the water's edge with loose footing and rocks so please be careful there are not railings for support or safety. If you are hiking with Children please be warne read more

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Very nice State Park. I enjoyed the hike with all the scenic paths we found. Worth a visit. read more

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Absolutely beautiful breathtaking views! There's some great overlooks the whole family can enjoy, but when you get to the cliffs there are no guardrails so be careful if you have little kids. read more

South Cumberland State Park - Hiking Near Me - Monteagle, Tennessee

We selected this park for a quick, overnight backpacking adventure since it's a mere 1.5 hour drive from Nashville. While it doesn't boast the mountainous scenery I'm always after, falls are the next best thing...and this park has lots o'em! With a known late start on a Saturday (that turned out to be even later, unexpectedly), we decided to stick with the Grundy Day Loop Trail for part of the afternoon. Some sources indicate this trail is two miles, others say three. My fitness tracker recorded four miles hiked, but there was a bit of off-path meandering...so we'll call it three miles overall. The trail app I use indicated this trail is rated "Easy", but it's definitely "Moderate" (and has since been updated to reflect this). It's a gorgeous trail with two falls, and lots of streams in between. While there is not a significant amount of elevation gain, it is very rocky with lots of roots, and steep drop offs. So PLEASE be careful. And keep your eye out for those white markers so you don't get off path! After the day loop, we grabbed our overnight gear for the trek to our campsite. Since I'm recovering from an injury, we chose to keep the overnight trek super simple to the CCC Campground. CCC has five sites, one of which is a group site. From the trailhead to the campground entrance is a short .5 mile (on the easier part of the Grundy Day Loop), then the campground trail loops around with wooden markers numbering each site. Sites 1 and 2 are immediately presented, but take the path that curves to the left to go to sites 3, 4 and 5 (and 5 is first, then 3, then 4). We learned from other hikers if you do not curve to the left path after site 2, you'll end up at a service road! And speaking of roads...eh, we'll come back to that a little later on. At the entrance of the site, I was surprised to find an actual outhouse...with toilet paper! Huh! Our site was generous in its offerings, complete with a fire pit, logs acting as tables and seating, and ample choices to pitch a tent. Unfortunately, the downed wood (permitted for use for fire making) was at a minimum. It was later suspected another campsite had foraged the majority of it. Additionally, what we did find was still damp from a recent rain, and new -- making it difficult to burn. The other drawback was having to carefully select wood not covered in poison ivy (which can be incredibly dangerous to humans to burn and breathe). One nearby camp had many people, and while they were not disruptive in any way, it detracted from the experience. The next morning we could hear camp 5 also. Which brings me back to that road.... Essentially the heart of Tracy City is just on the other side of the wood line. So all evening we heard announcements of a football game/horse show, then into the night, sounds of the nearby interstate. Hardly an escape with all the activity surrounding us. I will gladly return to South Cumberland to further discover what other treasures it holds, but I'll pass on camping at CCC again. read more

Out of all the state parks this is by far the best. I have hiked and camped several of the sites. I could not give this place any bad remarks. It has everything that some one would want. Water falls yup. Mountains yup. All kinds of hiking at different difficulty. You bet. I would strongly recommend SCSP. It's great if you don't have the money, time, or want to deal with the people in the smokies. read more

Love this place as it surprisingly hidden. Even a few locals have never ventured to it.

Some of the best hiking outside of the Smokies in TN. South rim definitely has the best overlooks.

THIS PARK IS AMAZING!! The rangers are super helpful and knowledgable. The trails are well marked and beautiful. The views are out of this world. Ample parking. Not super crowded and I came on a Saturday in the fall! I only did the Stone Door and then the 7 mile loop attached to it, but I can't wait to come back to do foster falls, fiery gizzard, etc!! read more