Lovely Bluff & Savage Garden

above: buttery yellow tulip in bloom near where we parked.

Lovely Bluff & Savage Garden 

Sunday March 29, 2026 

Kenny & Dana Koogler 

Photos are HERE 

Savage Garden Directions Are HERE or at the bottom of the report 

(Remember when looking up on Google Maps there are 2 places called Savage Gardens. One in Knoxville and one in Rocky Top) 

  We are remodeling our kitchen. I have been through house building, but never a remodel.  It is tedious and disorienting.  It is hard for anyone to go through, but for a person who cooks nearly every day it is really bad.  It is really hard for a mom who takes kids to school and has to get them up and feed them and pack lunches.  We've had several mitigating factors that have made it a little easier to bear.  

• Our kids have nice homes not too far away and we have had some meals with them
• The camper has a one butt kitchen and it is parked outside the garage plugged in.
• The back screen porch has a table and chairs when the weather is good. It also has a counter surface.
• The basement has a sink and bathroom. It also has a microwave, coffee maker, and a small refrigerator.  

Finally after all the health problems, doctor visits, kids schedules for school, Kenny's work schedule, and having to be tied to the house because workmen were coming I was about to blow a gasket. 

I told Kenny I needed a respite. He admitted he did too.  I realized that every delay was just putting off the completion so I didn't want to ask too much.  We agreed to ride out to Lovely Bluff and Savage Garden to take a wildflower stroll.   It is a pretty place and is only open this time of year to the public.  We have been a couple times before, but it was a long time between visits.

      We drove out and found the place with no trouble.  It is just outside Rocky Top.  We had the perfect day for it. Sunny, blue skies with nice temperatures and a breeze.   We had also found a few neat things near the place that we wanted to see while out that way.  We parked near the end of the drive and walked from there.  It is an easy walk.  We started seeing flowers almost immediately.   Tulips and redbuds bloom near where we parked. 

above: red tulips

Below: close up of redbud bloom

 

There is a structure you pass near the beginning of the walk. It is a picnic shelter built against a rock formation.  Long ago when we first visited it had a nice table and sitting space. The table is now gone, but one bench remains.  

above: picnic shelter with table and seating in tact first visit years ago

Below: Picnic shelter from outsidelong ago

Below: current day look at the inside of the shelter. Table is gone and it looks neglected. 

     We hit the bloom time about right, but we were still too early for some things and too late for others. No matter. It was just great to be outdoors and not stuck inside.  I have felt like an animal with its leg caught in a trap about ready to chew it off to be free.  I did find one unusual trillium in bud, but had not yet bloomed.   I know where to look for it now on future trips.  I also did not find Lovely Bluff arches 

as I am not sure how to reach those.  They are not on the property and while I know where they are I don't know if that is private land. I suspect it is.  On any future trips I want to visit Coal Creek arches. I think I know how to reach those without any trouble.  

Above: first Southern Red Trillium of the season. 

Below: Yellow trillium

Below: sunny yellow wood poppy in full bloom! 

Below: Kenny strolls along in front of me.

above: Shooting stars were in bloom 

Below: we saw a few trout lilies in bloom

Below:  Savage Garden arch

Below: another set of archettes at Savage Garden

Below: this is a view looking into this circlet bowl on the property.  One way in and one way out.

Below: this huge log formed a kind of artificial arch

Below:  purple phacelia was peak bloom today all around

Below: lots of long spurred violets blooming today. 

  One of the neat things about this place is the rock formations.  Another is how the flowers can be found blooming on the roof of the picnic shelter and in cracks all over the property!  We enjoyed our wildflower walk today.  It was just the right amount of a break from responsibility minus the guilt over totally abandoning what we needed to do.  Finally we headed back toward the jeep. We pulled down the road a short distance to investigate a spring. We found not one, but TWO springs shooting out of the bluff.   Both are piped and in use, but the first one had trash being dumped near it.   Ick.    We enjoyed the view of Coal Creek flowing by.  

  Ideas for Future Trips to the Area:

Come earlier in the season and hike the creek side below Savage Garden, but on the far side of Coal Creek.  Look for early bloom species.

Check out Coal Creek Arches

Combine a visit with River Bluff Trail  or the Clear Creek Trails and Lenoir Museum nearby

Below:  Lovely Spring is a healthy flowing stream of water with a spring box.  

Below:  Coal Creek flows  onward toward the Clinch River

Below is a short video that is a highlight reel from all we saw today including the creek and springs

Savage Gardens is the private property of a fellow named Arthur Savage from Knoxville.  He has a garden in town at this country location at Rocky Top.   It is open to the public for visits in Springtime.

Directions to Savage Garden:  Take I-75 North to Rocky Top and exit 128 

From the exit follow it around to the RIGHT onto Cobb Hollow Road and follow it for 1/2 mile.  

Turn RIGHT onto Lovely Bluff Road and follow it for 1.20 miles to a RIGHT turn onto Savage Garden Road.   Savage Garden Road will ford a stream across a bridge. The road turns and goes up a hill. Follow Savage Garden Road for about 0.25 miles to a LEFT turn into a driveway. 

Park in the driveway turn around.   Be respectful of the property owners graciously allowing visitors.

No facilities here.   There is a picnic shelter.  Watch out for the turkeys! I had them try to chase me years ago! They won't hurt you.