A section of the Cumberland Trail is cleared in the Pocket Wilderness near Soddy-Daisy.

Volunteers work on a section of the Cumberland Trail in the Pocket Wilderness near Soddy-Daisy.

Deep in the woods to the west of Soddy-Daisy, in an area known as the Pocket Wilderness, a unique state park is coming together — a few hundred yards at a time.

Cumberland Trail State Park Manager Bobby Fulcher estimates the 300-plus mile Cumberland Trail will be complete and connected within the next four to five years. At that point, it will belong to the citizens of Tennessee.

But there will likely be some who have a unique sense of ownership for the trail that will stretch from Chattanooga to the Kentucky border.

An army of volunteers in the Chattanooga area recruited by a handful of local nonprofit groups is helping speed the trail's progress along.

And they are hiking miles into beautiful, remote wilderness just to reach the new portions of the trail they are tasked with building.

"That's a very remote area, and it's hard to get volunteers into an area like that," Fulcher said. "You spend a lot of energy hiking in, and then construction work is hard and slow."

The local nonprofit group Wild Trails is convincing people to pitch in, even during the winter months.

Wild Trails reached an agreement with Tennessee State Parks in 2014 to complete a 12-mile stretch of the trail, and the organization's director, Randy Whorton, is hoping to complete it by the spring of 2017.

Attracting volunteer support is crucial, because there are no excavators or state funding helping Wild Trails' progress.

Just last month, a group from the North Chickamauga Creek Conservancy camped overnight to complete a 200-yard stretch of the trail before scouting out the next portion, which another group will build.

"I think that's the way through-hike trails should be built," Whorton said. "We want to get a lot of kids involved working with their parents through school and churches. My goal is to get as much of the community involved in building it as possible, and then there's a lot of pride and ownership that way."

The work is not glamorous — volunteers are digging the trail bed with tools like hoes and pickaxes — but there are goals in view.

When the Wild Trails portion of the project is complete, Whorton hopes other nonprofits working on area portions of the trail will be done with their work and that 70 miles of the trail's southern portion will be connected as the entire project creeps toward completion.

"What it means to us is that we'll be able to get the trail done in good time with these groups that have taken on these commitments," Fulcher said.

Eight miles of the Cumberland Trail already are usable at the North Chickamauga Creek Gorge State Natural Area, which is accessible from a trailhead on Montlake Road.

But Whorton clarified that the parts of the trail now under construction are not open to the public yet.

For now, volunteering is still the way to explore the path that will eventually span the height of the state.

"I think the word is getting out," Whorton said, "that it's not only really beneficial work, but it's really fun getting out there, taking these overnight trips and being a part of this project."

Contact staff writer David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249.