It's been changed a little over the last few months. It goes down into a few more gorges and passes some more waterfalls--so it's even better than it was, just more strenuous. You should try it if you haven't yet.
Thanks for the video...I was feeling a bit nostalgic and searched for Tracy City Raven Point and found your video. My father grew up in Tracy and our family vacationed here every other year in the 1960's. There was no formal trail then...you were left to pick your own way. We normally started out at the Blue Hole and worked our way toward Foster Falls, but never made it past Raven Point. It's nice (but also sad, in a way) to see the area developed into an area that can be enjoyed by all. The property owners there were an odd lot. My dad knew all of them, so he would knock on the front door (this was at the Raven Point end as the Blue Hole area was just off a road) and ask the owner if we could walk out to the Point. Had to climb a couple of fences, but that made it more fun. After I was an adult, I took my wife there on a a vacation (1983) and relived some memories. It was being developed then, so much of the "wild" had been smoothed over. But we had a good time. Thanks again for the video.
I hiked the Gizzard in October- well, most of it. I did the upper section as a loop, down the dog hole trail south to Raven Point, then down into the canyon (figured my knees would like that better than up), and back north up the FG to the trail head and my car. I did the Foster Falls loop the second day. Hardest trail I've ever hiked, but well worth the effort to get those magnificent views. Thanks for the great video.
Man, Foster Falls is beautiful. I agree with you the view in the rain is indeed pretty. The Fiery Gizzard Trail is an amazing area. I love all the water falls. Your camp setup worked well. You seem to attract the rain. LOL. I have watched some of your other videos and yes you were wet. There were some fantastic rock features. Loved the highlights especially the disappearing creek. Thank you for sharing your trip. Keep Hiking!
+Sleeves Thanks for watching! As for the rain, I set out knowing I would be in for a lot of it. I wanted not only to test my rain gear, but also to see whether I was able to enjoy the hike while getting rained on. I'm thinking of thru-hiking the Benton MacKaye Trail in April and know that if I do, I'll get lots of rain. So this hike was a small test to see whether my idea of an April thru-hike is crazy. I'm still up in the air about it. The rain doesn't really bother me, but if the rain continued for days, it might ...
+mikkat50 Glad you enjoyed this video too! I'm with you about "our beautiful state." The more I research places to hike in Tennessee, the more I find. (I'm sort of new to Tennessee, having moved recently with my family from St. Louis.) A recent discovery: Big South Fork. I hope to go there soon.
Eastern TN is great! When I moved from St. Louis to Nashville three years ago, I had no idea that I'd be so close to so many great places to backpack . . .
Nice video! Not a fan of the hiking in general in the south east, but this place was very unusual. Nice colors. Liked both the narration in the first half and the music only second half.
+SacWildlife Glad you liked the video! I'm new to the Tennessee area but keep finding great places to backpack. The Fiery Gizzard trail is located within the Cumberland Plateau -- its geology is great for creating deep gorges with lots of waterfalls and other interesting features. I look forward to checking out your own videos!
Great video! I plan to spend two nights on the trail. So I am trying to figure out an efficient plan to see as much as possible. Thanks for sharing your schedule and planned route.
Awesome trail, it's on the bucket list. Good idea on tying out the corners of your ground cover. When you are looking for a new trail check out the black mountain crest trail. You can park at mount Michelle and take a $21 shuttle to the trail head at Bowlens creek. Zachery Robbins has one of my favorite TH-cam videos on hiking the crest trail you would get a lot of info from. Thanks for sharing video.
Evan, watching this now just after commenting about it in another video - weird. Funny story about when I did this: I started at Foster Falls and stayed at Ravens Point (this was before they closed it). I continued to the other end via the Dog Hole trail as I was scared of the rocks on the FGT. Dog Hole was plenty rough for me. So, I get to the end and my car was still at Foster Falls. I thought I would just hitchhike back. Wrong, no one was leaving when I arrived at the end. So, I thought I'd have a better shot on the main road. I walked out of the park and took a right when I should have taken a left. I cross a little bridge and come to a stretch of houses - they all had DOGS! 2 little yappers came out in the street - I kept them at bay with my hiking poles. BIG lady on the porch yelled "just hit em with one of them sticks and they'll leave you alone.". I walked on to the next property as I noticed 2 huge dogs up ahead and another dog came out of the woods behind me to join the yappers! I was pinned! Luckily, the house I was now in front of was for sale. I walked to the front porch and noticed it was empty. This would be my Alamo I decided! I remembered the ranger writing a number on my map when I registered. I called and explained the situation and they sent a ranger to me and took me to my car! So, the most dangerous part of my hiking is when I'm in civilization! ....now, back to the video.
Enjoyed seeing the fall colors. Wet leaves and wet rocks sure creates a slippery situation. Your use of annotations was helpful in describing trail features. That also could be helpful if you ever encounter severe wind noise. Using music and annotations instead of the voice over could help salvage some otherwise lost footage.
Hiked this trail in 1 day with my buddy and it was a pretty intense hike. I tried to do the day loop with my girlfriend the following weekend and she got overwhelmed so we turned around.
Very much enjoyed the video and it was a very good presentation of the Fiery Gizzard Trail, IMHO. I am about to check out your other videos so if you have done these hikes please accept my apology; Try the Virgin Falls hike near Sparta and the Laurel Snow hike near Dayton. I don't think you will be disappointed.
+Evan's Backpacking Videos Well, the Virgin Falls trail is cool because you can camp next to a 110 ft. waterfall that originates out of a cave and then flows backward into another cave at the bottom, or, at the halfway point you can actually camp behind Big Laurel Falls underneath a huge rockhouse. Laurel snow has one campsite just next to a rushing stream so that serenades one all night long. Laurel Falls is a spectacular waterall and then there is the dramatic overlook called Buzzard Point.
TheSunkenGrave Great recommendations, thanks! I'm new to Tennessee and am constantly amazed by all the great hiking trails and opportunities. I'm headed to Big South Fork next but will keep these hikes in mind. And I'll check out your videos!
+Evan's Backpacking Videos Big South Fork and especially the Honey Creek Loop has been a desire to do for a few years now. Unfortunately, my work schedule and various health issues/limitations have interfered. I have watched a lot of videos taken there and I think you will love it. Just a side note; Once you are out of there you may want to stop and eat in a little nearby place called Rugby, Tennessee. It is a little town that was built as a 19th century English Utopian society so the buildings are all old English in style and they have an Inn there where you can get a good meal. Virgin Falls is a "pocket wilderness" that is only part of a much larger area known as the Bridgestone/Firestone Centennial Wilderness which offers an abundance of other trails. Virgin Falls is, by far, the most popular though. Laurel Snow is a beautiful park but it is not a place where you can really pound out a lot of miles but still well worth it. Mikeisi has some great footage from there. If you like good waterfalls, then some great dayhikes would be Burgess Falls, Cummins Falls, Fall Creek Falls (highest plunge waterfall east of the Mississippi River), and Machine Falls. I think my next camping trip will be to Prentice Cooper State Park which is a place I haven't been and overlooks the Tennessee River Gorge.
+TheSunkenGrave Great tips, thanks. I probably won't make it to Rugby on this trip, since I won't be passing it directly on the way to Bandy Creek Visitor's Center from Nashville. But it's something I'd like to do with the family--another interesting Tennessee destination I didn't know about!
Thanks for posting the video. I'm supposed to hike this trail with some friends next week (before the part closes). Any tips or things to watch out for? Thanks again for sharing your trip.
+Paul Broom The trail map that's published by Tennessee State Parks has good notes on the trail. Maybe you have it already, but if not, it's worth getting at the visitor center or through the mail. (One side of the map looks like this -- www.mobilemaplets.com/showplace/5360 -- but the trail notes are on the other side.) The only other thing I'd mention is that some of the descriptions of the trail on the Internet recommend taking the Dog Hole Trail to bypass a difficult section of the Fiery Gizzard Trail, but the part you'd be bypassing is the best part, in my opinion, even though very rocky. So don't do that. (I should have said that explicitly in my video.) Other than that, all I can say is have a good time!
Mine and my wife's first backpack trail. We love it.
It's been changed a little over the last few months. It goes down into a few more gorges and passes some more waterfalls--so it's even better than it was, just more strenuous. You should try it if you haven't yet.
Thanks for the video...I was feeling a bit nostalgic and searched for Tracy City Raven Point and found your video. My father grew up in Tracy and our family vacationed here every other year in the 1960's. There was no formal trail then...you were left to pick your own way. We normally started out at the Blue Hole and worked our way toward Foster Falls, but never made it past Raven Point. It's nice (but also sad, in a way) to see the area developed into an area that can be enjoyed by all. The property owners there were an odd lot. My dad knew all of them, so he would knock on the front door (this was at the Raven Point end as the Blue Hole area was just off a road) and ask the owner if we could walk out to the Point. Had to climb a couple of fences, but that made it more fun.
After I was an adult, I took my wife there on a a vacation (1983) and relived some memories. It was being developed then, so much of the "wild" had been smoothed over. But we had a good time.
Thanks again for the video.
Thanks for the comment!
I hiked the Gizzard in October- well, most of it. I did the upper section as a loop, down the dog hole trail south to Raven Point, then down into the canyon (figured my knees would like that better than up), and back north up the FG to the trail head and my car. I did the Foster Falls loop the second day. Hardest trail I've ever hiked, but well worth the effort to get those magnificent views. Thanks for the great video.
Man, Foster Falls is beautiful. I agree with you the view in the rain is indeed pretty. The Fiery Gizzard Trail is an amazing area. I love all the water falls. Your camp setup worked well. You seem to attract the rain. LOL. I have watched some of your other videos and yes you were wet. There were some fantastic rock features. Loved the highlights especially the disappearing creek. Thank you for sharing your trip. Keep Hiking!
+Sleeves Thanks for watching! As for the rain, I set out knowing I would be in for a lot of it. I wanted not only to test my rain gear, but also to see whether I was able to enjoy the hike while getting rained on. I'm thinking of thru-hiking the Benton MacKaye Trail in April and know that if I do, I'll get lots of rain. So this hike was a small test to see whether my idea of an April thru-hike is crazy. I'm still up in the air about it. The rain doesn't really bother me, but if the rain continued for days, it might ...
Enjoyed this. Fiery Gizzard is on my list, but haven't gotten to it yet. Thanks!
Always enjoy your videos from our beautiful state, Greetings from Johnson City, TN.
+mikkat50 Glad you enjoyed this video too! I'm with you about "our beautiful state." The more I research places to hike in Tennessee, the more I find. (I'm sort of new to Tennessee, having moved recently with my family from St. Louis.) A recent discovery: Big South Fork. I hope to go there soon.
I don't think you could ever run out of places to hike here. Looking forward to your next adventure !
Very good hike Evan. I am headed there, for the first time, this weekend. Thanks for sharing brother. -ATB Adam
Good luck with the hike!
Evan's Backpacking Videos Thank you brother :)
If you have not done it yet, the rerouted section is Amazing!
Nice video my friend, finally getting around to seeing this side of TN this weekend !!! Excited !!!
Eastern TN is great! When I moved from St. Louis to Nashville three years ago, I had no idea that I'd be so close to so many great places to backpack . . .
Nice video! Not a fan of the hiking in general in the south east, but this place was very unusual. Nice colors. Liked both the narration in the first half and the music only second half.
+SacWildlife Glad you liked the video! I'm new to the Tennessee area but keep finding great places to backpack. The Fiery Gizzard trail is located within the Cumberland Plateau -- its geology is great for creating deep gorges with lots of waterfalls and other interesting features. I look forward to checking out your own videos!
Great video! I plan to spend two nights on the trail. So I am trying to figure out an efficient plan to see as much as possible. Thanks for sharing your schedule and planned route.
The trail has changed a little bit since I did this video. I did an update.
Awesome trail, it's on the bucket list. Good idea on tying out the corners of your ground cover. When you are looking for a new trail check out the black mountain crest trail. You can park at mount Michelle and take a $21 shuttle to the trail head at Bowlens creek. Zachery Robbins has one of my favorite TH-cam videos on hiking the crest trail you would get a lot of info from. Thanks for sharing video.
Thanks for the info, appreciate it!
Evan, watching this now just after commenting about it in another video - weird.
Funny story about when I did this:
I started at Foster Falls and stayed at Ravens Point (this was before they closed it). I continued to the other end via the Dog Hole trail as I was scared of the rocks on the FGT. Dog Hole was plenty rough for me. So, I get to the end and my car was still at Foster Falls. I thought I would just hitchhike back. Wrong, no one was leaving when I arrived at the end. So, I thought I'd have a better shot on the main road. I walked out of the park and took a right when I should have taken a left. I cross a little bridge and come to a stretch of houses - they all had DOGS! 2 little yappers came out in the street - I kept them at bay with my hiking poles. BIG lady on the porch yelled "just hit em with one of them sticks and they'll leave you alone.". I walked on to the next property as I noticed 2 huge dogs up ahead and another dog came out of the woods behind me to join the yappers! I was pinned! Luckily, the house I was now in front of was for sale. I walked to the front porch and noticed it was empty. This would be my Alamo I decided! I remembered the ranger writing a number on my map when I registered. I called and explained the situation and they sent a ranger to me and took me to my car! So, the most dangerous part of my hiking is when I'm in civilization!
....now, back to the video.
+Chuck Carter That's really funny! I guess they let the dogs run loose around there . . . It's nice to know the rangers came to your aid! . . .
Man! I need to hike this trail!
It's even better now that it's been redesigned to go down into two other gorges . . . Great trail.
Heading to FG in March... Video very informative.. Thanks.
Good luck with the hike!
Hello new friend! I’ve heard that’s a doozy of a trail!
Enjoyed seeing the fall colors. Wet leaves and wet rocks sure creates a slippery situation. Your use of annotations was helpful in describing trail features. That also could be helpful if you ever encounter severe wind noise. Using music and annotations instead of the voice over could help salvage some otherwise lost footage.
Thanks, good idea! Thanks for watching and commenting.
Just hiked it yesterday! Fun to watch.. Just subscribed..
Thanks!
Nicks how was the water? Looking to go there in a few weeks
takleberry 86 Cold but clear.. If your thinking of swimming get ready for Navy Seal status..
Thanks for the info, try to hike it back a couple months ago right before the Gatlinburg fires, but there was no water.
Hey, it's the 12.5 miles round trip (Foster's parking lot back to Foster's parking lot)?
Hiked this trail in 1 day with my buddy and it was a pretty intense hike. I tried to do the day loop with my girlfriend the following weekend and she got overwhelmed so we turned around.
Very much enjoyed the video and it was a very good presentation of the Fiery Gizzard Trail, IMHO. I am about to check out your other videos so if you have done these hikes please accept my apology; Try the Virgin Falls hike near Sparta and the Laurel Snow hike near Dayton. I don't think you will be disappointed.
+TheSunkenGrave Thanks for the comment and for the hike recommendations. I haven't done them and will check them out!
+Evan's Backpacking Videos Well, the Virgin Falls trail is cool because you can camp next to a 110 ft. waterfall that originates out of a cave and then flows backward into another cave at the bottom, or, at the halfway point you can actually camp behind Big Laurel Falls underneath a huge rockhouse. Laurel snow has one campsite just next to a rushing stream so that serenades one all night long. Laurel Falls is a spectacular waterall and then there is the dramatic overlook called Buzzard Point.
TheSunkenGrave Great recommendations, thanks! I'm new to Tennessee and am constantly amazed by all the great hiking trails and opportunities. I'm headed to Big South Fork next but will keep these hikes in mind. And I'll check out your videos!
+Evan's Backpacking Videos Big South Fork and especially the Honey Creek Loop has been a desire to do for a few years now. Unfortunately, my work schedule and various health issues/limitations have interfered. I have watched a lot of videos taken there and I think you will love it. Just a side note; Once you are out of there you may want to stop and eat in a little nearby place called Rugby, Tennessee. It is a little town that was built as a 19th century English Utopian society so the buildings are all old English in style and they have an Inn there where you can get a good meal. Virgin Falls is a "pocket wilderness" that is only part of a much larger area known as the Bridgestone/Firestone Centennial Wilderness which offers an abundance of other trails. Virgin Falls is, by far, the most popular though. Laurel Snow is a beautiful park but it is not a place where you can really pound out a lot of miles but still well worth it. Mikeisi has some great footage from there. If you like good waterfalls, then some great dayhikes would be Burgess Falls, Cummins Falls, Fall Creek Falls (highest plunge waterfall east of the Mississippi River), and Machine Falls. I think my next camping trip will be to Prentice Cooper State Park which is a place I haven't been and overlooks the Tennessee River Gorge.
+TheSunkenGrave Great tips, thanks. I probably won't make it to Rugby on this trip,
since I won't be passing it directly on the way to Bandy Creek Visitor's
Center from Nashville. But it's something I'd like to do with the
family--another interesting Tennessee destination I didn't know about!
Thanks for posting the video. I'm supposed to hike this trail with some friends next week (before the part closes). Any tips or things to watch out for? Thanks again for sharing your trip.
+Paul Broom The trail map that's published by Tennessee State Parks has good notes on the trail. Maybe you have it already, but if not, it's worth getting at the visitor center or through the mail. (One side of the map looks like this -- www.mobilemaplets.com/showplace/5360 -- but the trail notes are on the other side.) The only other thing I'd mention is that some of the descriptions of the trail on the Internet recommend taking the Dog Hole Trail to bypass a difficult section of the Fiery Gizzard Trail, but the part you'd be bypassing is the best part, in my opinion, even though very rocky. So don't do that. (I should have said that explicitly in my video.) Other than that, all I can say is have a good time!
+Evan's Backpacking Videos thanks!