My hiking party has now visited all four of the primary trail entrances at the sprawling Savage Gulf State Park, located in Grundy County, Tennessee, near the towns of Gruetli-Laager, Pelham and Altamont (south of McMinnville).

Our latest adventure, embarking from the Savage Gulf East Trailhead, led the group to Savage Falls.

The Savage Gulf area—now a swath of over 19,000 acres of canyons, woods, waterfalls, creeks, bluffs, campgrounds and wildlife, formerly under the South Cumberland State Park umbrella—was designated by Tennessee as its own state park in 2022.

Now, roadways leading to these north, south, east and west Savage Gulf Trailhead areas display very large, visible new signs clearly directing folks to this beautiful specimen of Tennessee wilderness.

The hiking trail to Savage Falls itself is likewise very well marked and well kept; Tennessee set aside additional funding for the improvement of the park and the maintenance of its parking areas, facilities, trails and camping grounds in tandem with the announcement that Savage Gulf would be its own state park.

The area surrounding the Savage Falls Trail did contain lots of recently downed trees, but these have all been neatly cut to keep the trail clear and well maintained. (The large quantity of downed trees, along with many missing branches, missing bark and other irregularities visible on the lower portions of much of the towering, still-upright timber, suggested that something may perhaps be wrong with some of the tree species. Still, many thousands of healthy, old-growth trees remain standing tall.)

As fall came to a close and fallen leaves scattered all over the area, some lovely holly and pine popped through the other bare trees. Heading deeper into the forest unveiled some rhododendron as well.

The Savage Falls Trail—2.6 miles from the Savage Gulf East Trailhead parking area to the falls and back (just 1.3 miles one way)—makes a reasonable venture for the novice hiker. It’s mostly easy terrain with little change in elevation and not many dangerous cliffs and ledges nearby the trail, though some thorns and large tree roots are probably the main obstacles to watch out for on the trail; it can be very rooty.

As an added fun feature to keep the brief trail interesting, the Savage Falls Trail contains two really cool cable suspension bridges over creeks—remember, only one or two people at a time, please, on the bridges, as these can be bouncy! The trail also has numerous other small wooden foot bridges.

Upon approaching the entrance to Savage Falls, visitors will encounter large boulders that sit in Savage Creek, offering ready-made spots to perch upon for those who want to sit and listen to the flowing water for a bit. The site of an old moonshine still is marked near the creek bank.

Continuing down the trail, before too long, hikers will arrive at the top of Savage Falls. Here, a steep ledge comes into play, and caution must be exercised.

However, a staircase leads down to the base of the falls for those who would like to view it from below.

More large boulders sit down here, and, while the trail leading to this point did not involve a high degree of hiking difficulty, this area surrounding the Savage Falls plunge pool is not the easiest terrain to navigate, what with all of the loose rocks and slick portions.

The plunge pool can vary in depth based on water flow, but during periods of high water volume and warm weather it can be suitable as a small swimming hole for taking a dip in.

Soon after this waterfall point, Savage Creek will carve its way down deep into the massive Savage Gulf valley—a rustic, rocky, huge, savage crevice—where it will join the Collins River (which will then wind its way towards joining the Caney Fork at Rock Island State Park, to the north of McMinnville).

A distinctly noticeable aspect of the Savage Falls Trail on a November visit—there are some savage smells at Savage Falls. Either a very large animal was marking its territory, someone brought in a whole pack of dogs who relieved themselves near the trail somewhere, or there’s a certain elusive, hairy, bipedal, apelike creature roaming them woods.

To make for a longer day of hiking, the Savage Day Loop can add an additional two miles to the connecting Savage Falls Trail. Taking the North Rim or South Rim trails can add many more miles, and many hikers up for a serious challenge choose to spend two or three days in the gulf walking the more than 50 miles of hiking trail snaking the river gulf and plateaus at Savage Gulf State Park, passing by Great Stone Door, Greeter Falls, Suter Falls, Horsepound Falls and other beautiful Tennessee landmarks.

Savage Falls
Savage Gulf East Trailhead
3157 State Route 399
Palmer, TN

___

[Pictured, top: Savage Falls courtesy of Becca Wolfe]

___