Fiery Gizzard

This event will consist of 2 "loops" with a short ~15 minute drive between them. The reason for this is that the trail is point to point but has loop options on both the north and south ends, additionally the middle section has several boring miles without much going on that we will skip to spend our time seeing the good stuff.

The trail doesn't have huge elevation gains but there are several steep ~300 ft climbs. The toughest sections of the hike are actually relatively flat but extremely rocky so having good balance is a must. Trekking poles also really come in handy for these parts.

I plan on going rain or shine. With all of the recent rain we've had it is likely that there will be multiple, very easy, wet, less than knee deep crossings of creeks. The plus side of that is that all of the extra water really makes the waterfalls scattered all over this trail great. Please wear shoes and socks that will still do well when wet as we will not be stopping to take them off everytime we get to water. I highly recommend non-waterproof shoes that can drain/dry instead of goretex that will stay wet forever and some sort of wool or wool hybrid sock. 

We will start at Grundy Forest and do the "loop" to Raven's Point and back. We will also do a short out and back section just past Raven Point that sees 2 worthwhile falls before turning back. This "loop" is the longer part of the hike at 12.5 miles

We will then drive to Foster Falls and make a second "loop" including the base of the falls and the climbers access loop trail. We will then make the out and back to Laurel gorge just past the Small Wilds campsite where we will pass several nice views. This "loop" is roughly 5 miles.  The last few are fairly flat along the rim and should make for an easy end to the day.

Map of the area: https://tnstateparks.com/assets/pdf/additional-content/32-fiery-gizzard_(1).pdf

• https://goo.gl/maps/aJHpJEXn6982