Hiking in Frozen Head
The Judge Branch Trail in Frozen Head State Park is a short 2-mile hike with small waterfalls and a picturesque creek to cross.
This hike was taken some time ago, back the winter, but I’ve had less time to hike and/or work with the photos, so I’m only now posting them. During last winter, I went up to Frozen Head State Park, which is northwest of Knoxville, past Oak Ridge. One of the more interesting parts of the drive up to this park is that as you get closer, you pass an incarceration facility. Not that that’s a bad thing, but it is a little odd to pass by fences and barbed wire just before you head out into the park to hike the trails.
I took a path that followed the Judge Branch Trail, returning by way of a segment of the South Old Mac Trail. The Judge Branch Trail starts off near the beginning by crossing what appears to be the Judge Branch Creek, and winds along that waterway for about a mile and then crosses the creek, before turning back the other direction. After about a half mile, it connects with the South Mac Trail, which then heads back to the trailhead in about .75 miles, forming a nice loop. All told, it’s just over 2 miles as a loop.
Not the most extensive or strenuous hike I ever took, to be sure. But it was a pleasant day, and a good introduction to the park.
