Day trips from Nashville · Hiking
Fiery Gizzard Trail
94 miles from downtown Nashville · about 1 hour 45 minutes
Grundy Forest, Grundy County, near Tracy City, TN
Fiery Gizzard is widely regarded as one of the hardest and best day hikes in the region, running through boulder fields, hemlock gorges and past a string of small waterfalls on the Cumberland Plateau. The Grundy Forest to Raven Point section is the classic.
- Character
- Boulder scrambling, rugged footing
- Trailhead
- Grundy Forest, near Tracy City
Permits, fees and access
Free. Tennessee has been reorganizing the old South Cumberland complex into standalone parks, and Fiery Gizzard now has its own park identity, so confirm which entrance and ranger station covers your trailhead before you go. A long-standing private property reroute affected the southern end, so check current routing rather than an old map.
One thing to know first
The Grundy Forest trailhead lot is small and fills fast. The footing here is genuinely rough, with sustained boulder hopping that punishes ankles and turns the mileage into a poor guide to how long it will take.
Access rules, fees and closures verified August 15, 2026 against the agency that manages this place. They change, sometimes without notice. Check before you drive.
I keep this list because it is genuinely how people spend weekends here, and because almost every guide to it is out of date. If you are weighing a move to Middle Tennessee and want to know which part of it puts you closest to the things you actually like, ask me. No pitch.