Northwest Loop Trail -
Montgomery Bell State Park
Location: Burns, TN
Hike Rating: 6 Miles / Easy-Moderate - rolling hills
References:
60 Hikes within 60 Miles of Nashville - Johnny Molloy
Trail Notes: February 29, 2004
It was an unseasonably warm day on an unusual day of the calendar - Leap Day - that 32 hiking enthusiasts struck out to hike in this nearby state park. Starting northwards from the welcome center, we climbed an easy grade running between HWY 70 and Acorn Lake. The barren trees afforded us views deep into the parkland, seeing the lodge and lake below us. Our first rest stop was at the Wildcat Shelter, popular for backpackers. We continued in a clockwise loop around the northern perimeter of the park, crossing services roads, and the railroad tracks. We made good time.
Around the 4.5 mile point, we met the trail junction for the Southwest Loop Trail. 12 of the group opted to take this second trail. The great weather and amenable pace made the extra 7 miles an attainable goal. The rest continued around Creech Hollow Lake, past an active beaver lodge to a grassy slope along the lake. We stopped here for a snack break.
After the break, we continued along the lake, below the earthen dam and up the longest, steepest climb on the trail. Cresting the hill, we were rewarded with a trail sign pointing downhill for the last .6 mile of the trail.
After seeing off the first group. I bounded down the Wildcat and Ore Pit Trails to catch up with the second group. About 2 miles down the trail, past the historic church and cabin, I met the group happily chugging down the trail. We returned to the ranger station the same route I had travelled, passing the historic structures and the famed ore pits that kept the fires burning at Montgomery Bell's ironworks over one hundred years earlier.
This total perimeter trail - the Montgomery Bell Trail - is an easy to moderate trail with several camping shelters. It would be an excellent trail for beginning backpackers to get their first experience in the backcountry.
