Trail Review: Savage Day Loop to Savage Falls Spur

Trail: Savage Day Loop to Savage Falls
Location: Savage Gulf State Natural Area, State Highway 111, Palmer, TN 37365
Trail Length: 5 Miles
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate
Solitude: Moderate

Click map for larger image.

Savage Gulf State Natural Area offers some of the best hiking and backpacking in Tennessee. With its deep river gorges, expansive overlooks, and numerous waterfalls, Savage Gulf epitomizes the rugged beauty of the Cumberland Plateau. The loop and spur I'll outline here only scratches the surface of what this area has to offer, but it provides an easy introduction to this mountain landscape or an easily accessible getaway for the already initiated. For those who want a fairly easy hike for a quick overnight backpack trip that includes a gorgeous swimming hole, look no further. Others who prefer a simple but rewarding day hike might also consider this one. Let's get into some specifics and check out a few more pics below.

Trail Review: Stone Door Loop; Savage Gulf, TN

Trail: Stone Door Loop (Stone Door to Big Creek Gulf to Big Creek Rim Trails)
Location: Savage Gulf State Recreation Area; Stone Door Ranger Station, Beersheba Springs, TN
Trail Length: 9.8 miles, 13.4 miles if adding side trails to Ranger Falls and Greeter Falls (both are well worth the effort)
Difficulty: Moderate 
Solitude: Moderate to good (depending on time of year)

click map for larger image

This trail packs a lot of beautiful and diverse scenery into a relatively small loop. With ancient rock formations, multiple flowing waterfalls, swimming holes, and several gorgeous misty-mountain overlooks , this hike offers some full on nature porn. The beauty-to-effort ratio is very much in the hiker’s favor. Only one section of this trail is particularly strenuous, and some of the prettiest parts of this hike are along the very flat and easy to traverse rim of the Big Creek Gulf. This is probably one of the better trails in all of the Cumberland Plateau region of Tennessee and appears very well maintained and managed, too. Stone Door definitely belongs on any hiker’s list who is anywhere close to this region; here’s why… 

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