The once coal mine ridden area of Tracy City holds one of the most exhilarating hiking trails in Tennessee: The Fiery Gizzard. The Backpacker Magazine named this trail one of the 25 Best Trails in America, which is no surprise to those of us who have hiked the treasured trail. Dec. 1, 2015 could be a devastating day for Grundy County and the nation as a whole as a land dispute may cause the closing of this remarkable place.

There are many different legends of how the famous trail acquired its name. One of them says that Davy Crockett was sitting along the creek of Fiery Gizzard when all of a sudden he burned his tongue on a gizzard. Crockett then spit the gizzard into the gorge.

Another familiar story from a historical marker near the Tracy City terminus says there was a “crude experimental blast furnace” built by the Tennessee Coal and Railroad Company in the 1870s to see if the coal would produce iron. The furnace was then called “Fiery Gizzard.”

No matter the actual story, both history and a destination will be lost if the trail closes in December. The rugged trail is currently a 12.5-mile plateau hike, some of which is private property. The map below is of the Fiery Gizzard Trail; the green is property of the park while the red is private property, which is where the problem surfaces. There are two landowners who have chosen to withdraw the consent for the trail to go through their property. The agreements made were by word of mouth or handshakes.

The trail will not necessarily be closed for good, though. There are potential solutions: reroute the trail or buy the land. The likely fix will be to create another trail within the park, with a steep drop into a gorge, requiring a challenging climb out. Wondering how you can help the future of the trail? Get a group together and donate a Saturday to help rebuild the trail! Let’s keep this part of our Sewanee experience alive.

Thanks to WRCBtv.com for the information on this historical marker.