by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

Multiply and divide describes the new-math of the Tennessee State Parks on the South Cumberland Plateau, currently recognized as Fiery Gizzard, Head of the Crow, and Savage Gulf. Formerly, these three parks were one park, South Cumberland State Park, noncontiguous natural areas covering more than 30,000 acres, a two-hour drive from one end to the other traveling by car. The Park Service designated Savage Gulf as a separate park in 2022, and in 2024 the regions encompassing the Carter State Natural Area and Buggytop Cave, the Natural Bridge State Natural Area, Hawkins Cove State Natural Area, and Sherwood Forest State Natural Area officially became Head of the Crow State Park, linked by their affiliation to Crow Creek which emerges from Buggytop Cave. In 2025, the remaining South Cumberland Park holdings, Grundy Lakes, Denny Cove, and the Fiery Gizzard Trail, were rechristened as Fiery Gizzard State Park. So just how big an area do the three Plateau state parks encompass today?

“I can’t get that information from the park rangers because it’s changing so fast,” acknowledged Ned Murray, Friends of the Parks Executive Director. Murray estimated the area encompassed by the parks as 30,000-40,000 acres. Since 2020, 2,354 acres have been added to the Plateau state parks. Another 1,100 acres, 10-15 parcels are in a preservation pipeline process. Friends of the Parks is monitoring another 61 parcels, totaling over 7,300 acres. Support from the Friends figured significantly in the acquisition of an additional 670 acres at Savage Gulf in 2025 and in the 2026 acquisition of an acre tract in Fiery Gizzard to protect the Lone Rock Stockade archeological site at Grundy Lakes. The Friends goal for the parks: to preserve an additional 10,000 acres by 2036. What does that mean translated into dollars? The average price per acre has doubled since 2020. The cost to preserve 100 acres increased from $400,000 to $800,000.

Dividing three natural regions into three parks made sense on multiple levels. The large area of noncontiguous land presented “a lot of challenges,” said Head of the Crow Manager Bill Loewer, long response times when rangers received calls for assistance and navigational difficulty for visitors. The Fiery Gizzard Trail and Buggytop Cave Trail, favorite visitor hikes, were at opposite ends of the park when all three parks were grouped under the moniker South Cumberland. The division into three parks translated into three times as many staff, three times the amount of equipment and number of computers, and a threefold increase in the operations budget which includes funds for everything from trail markers to toilet paper. But Murray pointed out, “That’s three trail systems attracting more visitors and a lot more activity.”

The Friends embraced the challenge, purchasing an off-road, side-by-side vehicle for park staff, an electric wheelbarrow, trail building materials, blazes and information signage, as well as funding trail building and chainsaw certification classes and the construction of a new aviary at Fiery Gizzard ranger station for their birds and reptiles.

Boots-on-the- ground Friends’ volunteers help build trails, install blazes, and serve as ambassadors stationed at popular trailheads to offer information and answer visitor questions about the trail. Even more impressive is the Friends’ outreach to the public schools in the three counties encompassed by the parks, Franklin, Grundy, and Marion. The “Every Child in the Parks” program seeks to do just that. Coordinating park visits with teachers and principals to design a day of learning activities aligned with their curriculum, the Friends took over 400 children on field trips in the 2024-2025 school year. Every third, fourth, and fifth grader in Grundy County spent a day in the parks on a field trip led by a Friends volunteer.

On July 17, the Friends hosted a “fun raiser” at Cravens Hall. Guests browsed displays, sampled hors d’oeuvres, sipped cocktails, and danced the night away to the music of the band Upper Level. Next day activities included a “Creek Crawl” exploring the exceptional biodiversity in the region’s waterways, trail building, and visiting Tom Pack and Buggytop Caves, jewels in the region’s vast cave system. Typical of the Friends version of generosity, the event was sponsored entirely by donations, with 100 percent of ticket sales dedicated to directly supporting the parks. Special thanks for coordinating the event goes out to Tara Houston, Kathryn Kendrick, Jenn Reynolds, and to committee members Gracie Davis, Robin Hille Michaels, Katy Morgan, and Scott Parrish.

What’s new in the parks? The three-mile Sherwood Day Loop Trail accessible from Highway 156 a few miles south of Monteagle, features a visit to the Sherwood Natural Bridge, unique rock formations, and several outstanding overlooks viewing the Tom Pack Hollow and Crow Creek valleys, including one of the longest overlook views in the park, where visitors can see nearly 17 miles into Franklin County.

What’s next? Plans call for a trail system through Lost Cove, protected by a conservation easement and managed by the University of the South, linking to the trail system in Head of the Crow, as well as new trails and more than a half dozen back country campsites in the Crow.

Why do the Friends exist? The mission statement captures it in a nutshell (forgive the metaphor, although apt): “We have experienced and research confirms the spiritual, mental, physical, and cognitive benefits of spending time in the natural world and we want to share that with everyone we can … We believe in the power of nature to change us and our world.”