Most people drive through Tracy City on the way to somewhere else, which means they miss it. The best things to do in Tracy City, TN sit within about three miles of each other: a swimming lake ringed by nineteenth century coke ovens, the northern trailhead of the Fiery Gizzard Trail, a bakery that has been baking since 1902, and four restaurants within a few blocks, with another a couple of miles out. Tracy City is roughly 18 minutes from our front gate at The Getaway on Ranger Creek, close enough that guests head over for lunch and come back with a whole afternoon behind them.

Tracy City at a glance

  • Drive time from our property: approximately 18 minutes
  • Main draw: Grundy Lakes, swimming and the Lone Rock coke ovens
  • Best season: May through October for the lake, year round for the trails
  • Trail access: northern trailhead of the Fiery Gizzard Trail at Grundy Forest
  • Hotels in town: none. Nearest options are in Monteagle and Coalmont
  • Bring cash. Not every kitchen in town takes cards without a minimum

What Are the Best Things to Do in Tracy City, TN?

Swim at Grundy Lakes and walk the Lone Rock loop past the old coke ovens. Hike into Grundy Forest, which is where the Fiery Gizzard Trail starts. Buy bread at the Dutch Maid Bakery. Walk a section of the Mountain Goat Trail. Eat lunch somewhere in town. That’s the honest list, and it’s enough for a full day if you don’t rush any of it.

What Tracy City is not is a town with a shopping district. Fewer than fifteen hundred people live here. Plan it as an outdoors day with good food attached, and it delivers. Plan it as a strolling-and-browsing day and you’ll be back in the car by eleven.

Grundy Lakes and the Lone Rock Coke Ovens

Grundy Lakes is the reason to come. It’s a small chain of lakes inside the Fiery Gizzard State Park system, with a swimming area that opens in the warm months and a walking loop of about 1.3 miles around the water.

The part nobody expects is along the shoreline. Those long stone arches are coke ovens, built in the 1880s to burn Grundy County coal down into fuel for the iron industry. There were about 120 of them here. Several still stand, and you walk right past them on the loop. The mine that fed them, Lone Rock, was worked in part by leased convict labor, which is a real and ugly piece of Tennessee history and part of what makes this a more interesting hour than a plain lake walk.

Go in the morning if you want the loop to yourself, or late afternoon in July when the water has had all day to warm up. Admission is free.

The Fiery Gizzard Trail Starts in Tracy City

Grundy Forest, on the edge of town, is the northern trailhead for the Fiery Gizzard Trail, which Backpacker magazine has put in its top 25 in the country. You do not have to hike twelve and a half miles to Foster Falls to get the good part. The Grundy Forest Day Loop covers two miles and passes Blue Hole Falls, Hanes Hole Falls, Cave Spring Rockhouse and the Black Canyon, a gorge five feet wide and thirty feet deep.

Two honest notes. The loop is rockier and rootier than two miles suggests, so wear real shoes. And the waterfalls here run on rainfall. After a dry August they can thin to a trickle or stop, which is normal for the plateau and worth knowing before you build a day around them.

Dutch Maid Bakery

The Dutch Maid Bakery has been operating in Tracy City since 1902, started by a Swiss immigrant family, and it bills itself as the oldest family-owned bakery in Tennessee. Salt rising bread is the thing to try if you have never had it. It smells strange and tastes wonderful, and you will not find it in a grocery store.

Hours run short and it is closed on Sundays, so check before you drive over.

Restaurants in Tracy City, TN

For a town this size the food is better than it has any right to be. Five places, and we send guests to them for different reasons.

Rosie’s Farmhouse Kitchen is the one we recommend most. Homestyle cooking, clean dining room, good service, prices that have not caught up with the rest of the world. Potbellies is the same kind of cooking and the same kind of value, with one catch worth planning around: it’s closed on weekends, which is exactly when most visitors are here. El Maguey does very good Mexican food with service to match, and it’s our pick when we want something other than Southern.

Tracside and Off the Rails round out the list. We have not eaten at either one, so we won’t pretend to review them, but both are on Railroad Avenue and both have a local following.

If nothing in town is open, Coalmont is a few minutes back toward our corner of the plateau, and Stingers and Small Town Junction BBQ are both worth the short drive.

Walk a Section of the Mountain Goat Trail

The Mountain Goat Trail follows the old railbed that hauled Grundy County coal off the mountain. Finished sections connect Monteagle, Tracy City and parts of Sewanee. It’s paved and gentle, which makes it the right call with small kids, a stroller, or legs that already did Grundy Forest that morning. Current map and build status at the Mountain Goat Trail Alliance.

Are There Hotels in Tracy City, TN?

No. There is no hotel in Tracy City itself. Most visitors base in Monteagle, about ten minutes west, or stay out here in Coalmont.

That’s us. Our 18-acre property in Coalmont has five units spread through the woods, which puts Grundy Lakes, Grundy Forest and every restaurant above inside a short drive, along with Foster Falls, Greeter Falls and The Caverns. Guests regularly do Tracy City as a half day and are back on their deck before dinner.

Tracy City FAQ

How far is Tracy City from Monteagle?

About ten minutes east on Highway 41. The two towns function as one area for visitors, with Monteagle holding most of the lodging and Tracy City holding Grundy Lakes and the Fiery Gizzard trailhead.

Can you swim at Grundy Lakes?

Yes, in the designated swimming area during the warm season. There are no lifeguards, so swim accordingly.

Is Grundy Lakes free?

Yes. It’s part of the state park system and there is no admission charge.

What is Tracy City known for?

Coal. The town grew up around the mines that fed the Lone Rock coke ovens, and the railroad built to haul that coal is the reason the Mountain Goat Trail exists today.

Tracy City is the kind of place that rewards a slow morning: the coke ovens, a swim, bread from a bakery older than most of the buildings around it. When you want to do that on a Tuesday instead of a crowded Saturday, the cabins are eighteen minutes up the road and usually quiet midweek.