East Chattanooga
Within the city limits, just east of downtown Chattanooga, you’ll find a wide variety of outdoor recreation opportunities at Enterprise South Nature Park including hiking, trail running, road biking, mountain biking, and horseback riding. Audubon Acres offers hiking trails, wildlife viewing and access to South Chickamauga Creek from their property. Paddlers can access the Tennessee River Blueway or South Chickamauga Creek from a variety of boat launches and the South Chickamauga Creek Greenway offers pedestrians and cyclists a unique tour of Chattanooga’s residential and industrial sections that follow along the creek.
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Audubon Acres
Located east of Chattanooga off of I-75, this beautiful sanctuary serves as the headquarters of the Chattanooga Audubon Society and provides a peaceful retreat in the middle of a vast suburban shopping and residential district.
The 132-acre Elise Chapin Wildlife Sanctuary at Audubon Acres contains a rich diversity of plant and animal life. The property includes access to the South Chickamauga Creek, 5 miles of trails, a Visitor's Center, gift shop, a timeline museum tracing the human habitation of the property, and structures that are significant to the area’s Native American History. Field trips and group tours are available.
Hiking | Running
Discover 5 miles of trails on 130 acres. A swinging bridge carries visitors over South Chickamauga Creek to explore forest, riparian, wetland, meadow, and hilltop habitats.
Paddling
Access to South Chickamauga Creek is available seasonally for paddling, swimming, and floating. Picnic tables and a fire ring make a great setting for group gatherings.Directions
Difficulty
Hiking
Running
Paddling
Guides
Hours and Cost
Open Daily: Monday-Saturday 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday 1 p.m.-5 p.m.
Cost: Adults $6, Seniors $5
Students $5 (with student ID)
Children (5-12) $3, under 5 Free
Pet Friendly
No.
Contact
Audubon Acres 900 North Sanctuary Rd. Chattanooga, TN 37421 423-892-1499
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Carver Youth and Family Development Center
The City of Chattanooga’s Carver Youth and Family Development (Recreation) Center has a 9-hole disc golf course around their outdoor walking track. The inner city course is mostly flat and lightly wooded with a nice mix dual tees. Check in at the center to register to play.
The paved walking path meanders through and circles an open field behind the center. The path also serves as a great place for kids to ride bikes. Popular bike routes and dedicated bike lanes can be found nearby on Orchard Knob Ave., 14th St., 11th St., Willow St., McCallie Ave., and MLK.Directions
Difficulty
Disc Golf
Hiking
Biking
Guides
Hours and Cost
Monday-Friday: 11:30 a.m.-8 p.m.
Saturday: 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m.
Cost: Free
Pet Friendly
Yes, on a leash
Contact
City of Chattanooga YFD 600 N Orchard Knob Ave. Chattanooga, TN 37404 423-697-1280
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Enterprise South Nature Park
Hamilton County’s 2,800-acre Enterprise South Nature Park is located off I-75 in Northeast Chattanooga, adjacent to the Volkswagen manufacturing plant. The park is best known for its vast recreational trail network that winds among dozens of sealed ammunition storage bunkers.
The park offers over 35-miles of paved and unpaved trails open for day hiking, trail running, mountain biking, road biking, horseback riding and ADA accessible recreation. The park also offers 4 picnic areas, historical exhibits, a visitors center, bike rentals and a 7-mile driving loop.
The nature park boasts 15-miles of singletrack mountain bike trails that range in difficulty from beginner to intermediate with built boardwalks and other technical features. The trails are directional depending on the day. Please check signs before riding.
The recently added 10-mile Summit Knobs Trail was added in 2018 and is the first public facility in Hamilton County designed specifically for horseback riding. The trailhead features a large gravel parking area specifically designed to withstand trucks, trailers, and horses and is located off Highway 58 behind the Central High School football field, separate from the main park entrance. The facility also includes handicap-accessible restrooms, two water trough stations, mile marker trail posts, an information kiosk with trail maps and hitching posts.Directions
Difficulty
Hiking
Running
Biking
Hours and Cost
Open Daily: 7 a.m. to Sunset
Cost: Free
Pet Friendly
Yes, on a leash
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South Chickamauga Creek Greenway
The South Chickamauga Creek Greenway is a multi-use trail and boardwalk that runs parallel to the South Chickamauga Creek as it winds its way through Chattanooga. As of 2018, the Greenway has two complete sections but is not continuous. The connector trails extend 5 miles from Tennessee Riverwalk to Faith Road and the Brainerd Levee is 5.5 miles between Shallowford Road to Camp Jordan Arena and Park in the City of East Ridge. The connector trail can be accessed off Lost Mound Drive at the Riverpoint parking area on the Tennessee Riverwalk or Sterchi Farm Park.
The connector trail to Sterchi Farm Park section is paved and features boardwalks that wind above the creek, through towering oak-hickory forests, rolling farmland and neighborhoods. Sterchi Farm Park also has a public boat launch. The Brainerd Levee/Camp Jordan section of the trail runs next to wetlands that provide stopover habitat for flocks of migrating songbirds and waterfowl. This section of the greenway is gravel and rough pavement. There’s free parking and boat launches at both Camp Jordan and the Shallowford Road trailhead.
Paddling
As part of the Tennessee River Blueway trail system, South Chickamauga Creek is a quiet paddler’s retreat flowing through Chattanooga’s thriving industrial core. The creek is navigable from Graysville Road (Ringgold, GA) to its confluence with the Tennessee River. There are several boat launches that give paddlers a variety of options for both short and long day paddling trips. The section from Sterchi Farm Park upriver or downriver for 4 miles is a perfect beginner paddle.
Recommended paddle trips and list of boat launches: (shuttle required for all)
*Graysville Road to Audubon Acres: 2-hour paddle, 1 portage at beginning of trip. *Audubon Acres to Camp Jordan: 2-hour paddle. *Camp Jordan to Shallowford Road: 2-hour paddle, 1 portage-river left of pipeline after Brainerd Rd Bridge. *Shallowford Road to Sterchi Farm: 2-hour paddle. *Sterchi Farm to Riverpoint at TN Riverpark: 1-hour paddle or 2 hours out and back paddle.WARNING: Creek levels and current can fluctuate due to water releases from Chickamauga Dam on the Tennessee River. Check the United States Geological Survey Water Gauge before paddling.
Difficulty
Hiking
Running
Biking
Paddling
Hours and Cost
Open Daily: Sunrise to Sunset
Cost: Free
Pet Friendly
Yes, on a leash
Contact
423-425-6311
202 Tremont St.
Chattanooga, TN 37405
423-265-5229
323 Camp Jordan Pkwy.
East Ridge, TN 37412
423-490-0078
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Tennessee River Gorge and Blueway
The Tennessee River Gorge, 27,000 acres of land carved through the Cumberland Mountains by the Tennessee River, is one of the most unique natural treasures in the Southeast. It is the only large river canyon bordering a mid-size city and is the 4th largest river canyon east of the Mississippi. Designated as a National Scenic River Trail in 2002, the Tennessee River Blueway flows through Chattanooga and the Tennessee River Gorge for 46 miles, from Chickamauga to Nickajack Dam.
The Blueway’s unique paddling experience offers kayakers, canoeists, and paddleboarders the opportunity to visit wildlife preserves and camp primitively on public lands or stay in downtown hotels and take advantage of urban amenities. The Tennessee River flows through the heart of downtown Chattanooga’s thriving entertainment district and then continues through the high, forested walls of the river gorge. There, towering bluffs and protected forests provide miles of spectacular paddling.
When the Tennessee River widens into Nickajack Lake, it reveals its enormous scope before dropping Blueway paddlers off at the headwaters of Nickajack Dam. The scenic terrain of the Tennessee River Gorge creates a unique diversity of landforms, thousands of varieties of plants, grasses and wildflowers and a rich wildlife population. There are many ways to access wildlife viewing in the gorge: mountain biking Raccoon Mountain, paddling the Tennessee River Blueway or even climbing at the Tennessee Wall. The most accessible way to get a good overview is to hike the Pot Point Nature Trail, a 3.5-mile loop that begins at the Tennessee River Gorge Trust’s Pot Point Cabin at the river’s edge and climbs the side of the Cumberland Plateau to nearly 1,000 feet.Directions
Difficulty
Paddling
Hours and Cost
Open Daily: Sunrise to Sunset
Cost: Free
Pet Friendly
Yes, on a leash