Cumberland Trail: Ross Gap to The Garden Spot

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The Cumberland Trail (CT) is a rugged, north-south, foot traffic only trail along the eastern edge of the Cumberland Plateau in Eastern Tennessee. When completed, the trail will be 300-plus miles long.

This section of the CT runs through the heart of Frozen Head, starting on jeep roads near the Garden Spot, passing by Coffin Spring before joining with the North Bird Mountain Trail. The trail runs around the north side of Bald Knob before cutting south and briefly intersecting with West Lookout Tower Trail. From there, the CT mirrors Bird Mtn Trail*, hits the summit of Bird Mountain and passes Bird Mountain camp site, and then skirts Castle Rock (a large rock fixture) before coming to the intersection of Bird Mtn Trail and North Bird Mountain Trail. From here, the CT is on its own, following the "Pillars of Doom" (a few sketchy crossings here) and going over England Mountain before intersecting with several jeep roads and the Ross Gap Trail. The trail continues for a short period after this, and then ends, as it is under development into Wartburg.

See cumberlandtrail.org for more info.

*Bird Mtn Trail is currently mapped "incorrectly" on TRP and only shows the first climb.