Yesterday I finished the last of the 10 (or 11?) defined hiking trails at The University of the South, also known as Sewanee, a small liberal arts college in TN, almost midway between Nashville and Chattanooga. As accomplishments go, this is very minor, but it has a number of appealing aspects.
The terrain is pretty representative of the Cumberland Plateau, with a fair bit of limestone and sandstone, natural waterfalls, rocky bluffs, and creeks to rock-hop. The trail blazing and signage is just inadequate enough that you will get some practice with map and compass, looking for faded blazes, and trying to make heads and tails of trail re-routes. Depending on when you go, and what part of the trail system, you may see no one at all, or you may see runners, mountain bikers, and horseback riders (they have an equestrian center). At certain times, hunting may be going on, so you will get practice trying to remember to bring your blaze orange vests/hats/packs.
The hikes are defined in bite-size pieces to highlight a particular area. Only the Perimeter Trail (20 miles) is officially more than 8 miles long. However, by adding roadwalks and access trails to get to the trailheads from parking, and combining a couple trails or loops, one can put together several 5-10 mile hiking days.
Sewanee claims to have 60 miles of trail in all, but I think they're including all the multi-mode trails (hiking/biking/equestrian, e.g.) that aren't part of a defined trail on their official map. The defined trails only add up to about 30 miles. But, as mentioned, you have to take some of those access trails/fire lanes/etc anyway to get to the defined loops and trails.
I'll include a map here, but a higher resolution one is available from Sewanee's website in PDF form.
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There was one area where I literally had to rock climb (free solo!) to follow the trail. I could not believe it went that way, but it did. It went up to a corridor in the rock they call Proctor's Hall. Now, the rock face had some ripples in it and you could get your footing OK. It was not straight up either; it leaned at an angle comparable to that which you'd use for a ladder against your house. So not too bad. But what I didn't figure out is, how you'd get down if coming the other way. There were rocks near the base, and the ground at the base wasn't that level. I guess you'd have to back your way down somehow. So that was pretty exciting to do, esp. since I was not hiking with a buddy that day.
Notice the location of the blaze - I'm at ground level at the base looking up, and I'm like, what?!
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Looking down from Proctor's Hall:
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Bridal Veil Falls:
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Green's View:
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Creek Crossing near Solomon's Temple:
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ice crystals formation:
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