West Chattanooga
Wander a little ways west of downtown Chattanooga, and you’ll find a wide variety of outdoor recreation opportunities at Raccoon Mountain, Prentice Cooper State Forest, along the Cumberland Trail, and Tennessee River Blueway. Go hiking, trail running, road biking, mountain biking, rock climbing, paddling, camping or caving all within a 20-30 minute drive of downtown.
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Cumberland Trail
Justin P. Wilson Cumberland Trail State Park is a Tennessee State Park and scenic hiking trail. When complete, it will run the length of the Cumberland Plateau from Chattanooga to the Kentucky-Virginia-Tennessee border. As of November 2016, over 210 miles of the trail are open for hiking. These miles are divided into 14 different segments. Between these segments, land acquisition for the proposed trail corridor is an ongoing process, so gaps in the proposed trail route do exist. There are two long sections located within half an hour’s drive of downtown Chattanooga.
The Tennessee River Gorge segment begins at the Signal Point unit of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park in the town of Signal Mountain, 15 minutes northwest of downtown Chattanooga. The segment extends 24 miles across the Suck Creek Gorge and into Prentice Cooper State Forest. The Three Gorges segment – Soddy, Possum, and Rock Creeks – are some of the most beautiful sections of hiking trail in the entire Southeast. The rugged, rock-strewn trail rolls over 40 contiguous miles by boulder fields, rhododendron thickets, and dramatic overlooks.
Difficulty
Hiking
Running
Backpacking
Hours and Cost
Open Daily: Sunrise to Sunset
Cost: Free
Pet Friendly
Yes, on leash
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Portland Park
The City of Chattanooga’s Portland Park is located at the base of Signal Mountain where Suck Creek Road heads west to the Tennessee River Gorge.
The small, 9 hole course is open but features trees in play on all holes. A couple of tunnel shots add challenge.
Directions
Difficulty
Disc Golf
Guides
Hours and Cost
Open Daily: Sunrise to Sunset
Cost: Free
Pet Friendly
Yes, on a leash
Contact
City of Chattanooga Parks 423-425-6311
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Prentice Cooper
Only 15 minutes from downtown Chattanooga, Prentice Cooper State Forest and Wildlife Management Area overlooks the Tennessee River Gorge on a rugged outcrop of the Cumberland Plateau.
The section of Prentice Cooper west of Suck Creek holds approximately 100 miles of forest service roads and trails, open to equestrians, OHV’s, hikers, runners and mountain bikers.
The terrain varies, from rolling hills on top of the plateau to steep grades along the side of the ridge. Trail and road surfaces are a mix of dirt, gravel, or rocks and depending on the time of year, can include multiple stream crossings.
Camping is permitted at two designated campsites: Davis Pond and Hunter's Check Station. Campsites are primitive with pit toilets and campfire rings only. Camping is first come, first serve.
Prentice Cooper is closed to all visitors except hunters on select dates in April for managed turkey hunts. Hunting licenses are available through Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
Directions
Difficulty
Hiking
Running
Biking
Guides
Hours and Cost
Open Daily: Sunrise to Sunset
Cost: Free
Pet Friendly
Yes, on a leash
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Raccoon Mountain
Located just 15 minutes from downtown Chattanooga, Raccoon Mountain offers 30 miles of intermediate to advanced singletrack trails for the experienced mountain biker, intense trail runner or avid hiker. The trail system winds around the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Raccoon Mountain Pumped Storage Facility, which creates a large reservoir on top of the mountain.
Thanks to SORBA Chattanooga, Raccoon Mountain is a popular mountain biking destination for locals and visitors seeking intermediate to advanced trails, fast descents, and technical features. Road cyclists can take advantage of the steep climbs up and fast descents down the mountain, or enjoy a leisurely paced pedal along with the one-way paved roadway that circles the reservoir on top of the mountain. Be sure to pause at the visitor center to learn more about TVA's largest hydroelectric facility.
The public access boat ramp located at the base of the mountain on the Tennessee River is popular with recreational paddlers and fisherman. You can use it for an out and back paddle or as part of a longer paddle down the TN River Blueway. Finally, Raccoon Mountain Caverns & Campground is home to Tennessee's highest rated cave and offers a premier RV park & campground. Tour the nationally recognized cave system, pan for gemstones, or relax by a campfire while taking in the spectacular views of Lookout and Raccoon Mountains.
Difficulty
Hiking
Running
Biking
Caving
Paddling
Hours and Cost
Trails Open Daily: Sunrise to Sunset
Cost: Free access to all trails + visitor center
Pet Friendly
Yes, on a leash
Contact
Tennessee Valley Authority Raccoon Mountain Pumped Storage Facility 800-882-5263 Email: tvainfo@tva.gov
Raccoon Mountain Caverns & Campground 319 West Hills Dr. Chattanooga, TN 37419 (800) 823-2267 Cave Email: cave1@rvcoutdoors.com Campground Email: camp1@rvcoutdoors.com
SORBA Chattanooga For Mountain Bike Trail Information
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Raccoon Mountain Caverns
Located right outside of Chattanooga, Raccoon Mountain Caverns offer walking cavern tours and wild cave tours for groups of adults and kids. Trained cave guides lead groups through the vast underground network of chambers, canyons, tunnels, small streams, and large waterfalls that are beneath Raccoon Mountain.
On a wild cave tour, expect walking, stoop walking, and some crawling. The expedition also includes some belly crawls, a visit to sandpaper slide, and the 49-cent squeeze.
Raccoon Mountain also features a campground suitable for both RV’s and tents.Directions
Difficulty
Caving
Guides
Pet Friendly
No.
Contact
Raccoon Mountain Caverns and Campground 319 West Hills Dr. Chattanooga, TN 37419 423-821-9403
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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
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Tennessee Wall
The Tennessee Wall, on the rim of the Cumberland Plateau above the Tennessee River Gorge, is known as one of the premier cliffs in the Southeastern U.S. Miles of hard sandstone offer 600 routes from the 5.5 to 5.13 range of difficulty.
Because the wall faces southwest, the rock face can get extremely hot during most summer months, so the best climbing occurs October – May.
Climbers can access the T-Wall from River Canyon Rd. in the Tennessee River Gorge, approximately one half hour from downtown Chattanooga.Directions
Difficulty
Climbing
Hiking
Hours and Cost
Open Daily: Sunrise to Sunset, execpt for hunt dates
Cost: Free
Pet Friendly
Yes, on leash
Contact
Prentice Cooper State Forest 3998 Game Reserve Rd. Chattanooga, TN 37405 423-658-5551