Parks and Recreation Month: Bike Trails

Tennessee Riverpark

A new page on the Parks and Recreation Month guide is Bike Trails. This page leads to many local options for bicycling trails. 

And did you know that there are three rails-to-trails within an hour drive of Chattanooga? They are Eureka Trail in Athens, TN; Mountain Goal Trail in Sewanee; and Silver Comet Trail in Cobb County, GA. All three use former railway tracks for a bicycle trail. Find more about these trails on the Bike Trails page.

Here are some local bike trails that can be found on the Bike Trails page.

Aetna Mountain Trails
The first 4 miles of trails brought to you by the Tennessee River Gorge Trust is the newest addition to the Chattanooga trail scene. Parking can be found off of River Gorge Drive after you drive through the Black Creek subdivision.

Booker T. Washington Biking
Situated on the shores of Chickamauga Lake and not far from downtown Chattanooga is the 353-acre Booker T. Washington State Park. Booker T. Washington offers a single-track bike trail on a six-mile loop. The trail features some long uphill climbs with rewarding, but very fast, downhills. Parking lots with the most convenient trail access are either the upper lot (first one on your right, near the pool) or at the lower lot by the pavilion and restrooms.

Enterprise South Nature Park
Enterprise South is one of the most popular trail systems in the Chattanooga area. Popular for it's beginner-friendly flowing trails, park facilities, and the security of a ranger staff. Ample parking at the ranger station. The amenities at the Ranger Station include restrooms and information kiosk.

Raccoon Mountain
Raccoon Mountain is made up of several trails that circle the TVA Raccoon Mountain pumped storage facility. The trails present a variety of riding environments that are for intermediate and advanced riders. There are several parking areas.

Stringer's Ridge
Stringer’s Ridge is a 92 acre pocket wilderness park in Chattanooga’s urban core. Located on the Northshore, there are 7 miles of multi-use trail for hikers, bikers and trail runners to share. There is a small parking lot at the End of Spears Avenue. 

Tennessee Riverpark
The Tennessee Riverpark is a 13-mile paved, urban greenway that connects downtown Chattanooga to Chickamauga Dam, 8 miles to the east, and to the Historic St. Elmo neighborhood 4 miles to the south. It is opened to cyclists, runners, skaters and walkers and is popularly named “Riverwalk."

The Riverpark can be accessed from various parking areas and trailheads from Chickamauga Dam to St. Elmo. The Riverwalk connects to the South Chickamauga Creek Greenway at Riverpoint off Lost Mound Drive to add an additional 3 miles out to Sterchi Farm Park.

Parks and Recreation Month: Staff pictures

This year, a college professor joined the Library Staff for staff submitted pictures!  This is for many a favorite part for the library staff to show we have fun outside of the library. Thank you to Professor Chris Willis for submitting pictures in a collaborative effort with the library staff.

Find the page for staff submitted pictures at  library.chattanoogastate.edu/parks2026/staff

Find the guide for the 2026 version of Parks and Recreation Month at library.chattanoogastate.edu/parks2026

Let's see some selected pictures from the staff submissions!

 

 

 

 

See more pictures on the staff pictures page of the Parks and Recreation Guide!

Parks and Recreation Collaborative Display with Library Staff and a College Professor!

July is Parks and Recreation Month and the collaborative display for the month of July!

 

This year's theme is the The Power of Parks and Recreation. And we have our libguide updated with links to parks, pictures submitted by library staff and professor Chris Willis, links to videos, a new page about bike trails, and much more! Parks and Recreation Libguide. 

Discover the power of parks & recreation with our display featuring books about sports, parks, and recreation as well as pictures of your favorite library staff out in the wild!

 

OMA and Park & Recreation Month!

By Liza Blair
Curator and Museum Specialist

Tap into the open-air magic of Chattanooga State’s public art.
 
Chattanooga State is home to over twenty outdoor sculptures located across a five-acre campus preserve known as the Outdoor Museum of Art (OMA).  The OMA includes sculptures that range in scale and encompass a variety of styles and materials.
 
Before the 1930’s, most public art in the United States consisted largely of memorials and war monuments.  To expand artist resources, outdoor sculpture parks were developed, giving artists new platforms to exhibit large-scale sculptures in natural environments.
  
In 2003, the OMA started and set a precedent of presenting diverse contemporary sculptures on campus for students, faculty, staff and the community at-large to enjoy.
 
In honor of Parks and Recreation month, take advantage of our collection and spend a few minutes outside, enjoying nature, and experiencing art.

Be Gardiner, Lazarus and Persephone, Cornerstones, Tennessee Pink Marble located in front of HUM

 

 

Jonathon Hils, Right Turn located at the entrance to CAT

Harold Van Houten, Leonardo's Dance, Steel and Marble located on the lawn facing pond at HUM

Verina Baxter, Circus Time in Cenchat located outside CBIH

July is Park and Recreation Month - Part Two

 

Part two of a two-part blog series on the Park and Recreation Month guide

Our KLIC staff members enjoy visiting local parks or traveling to visit cool places. Chattanooga parks including nearby Greenway Farms, Tennessee and Georgia parks, local hiking trails, the Grand Canyon, the Great Smoky Mountains, national seashores, Japan, Iceland, and many more pictures were submitted. We have staff who hike, have a rose garden, people who love beaches, people who kayak, and more. The KLIC library staff has park and recreation stories to join with the community where you belong!

Check out the video of pictures from the Library Staff! 

Visit the park and recreation guide at https://library.chattanoogastate.edu/parks2025

Horses along Suck Creek Road

 

Horses near Cape Lookout National Seashore

 

Flat Top Mountain, Bledsoe County, TN

Indiana Dunes National Park

 Cat House, Hemingway Home, Key West

Cades Cove, Great Smoky Park

July is Park and Recreation Month - Part One

 

By Dwight Hunter

One of my favorite guides to work on and to update each year is this guide: Park & Recreation Month Guide. It is a fun guide to look at park and recreation resources, and to view embedded videos, and to explore links and much more. This year's theme is Build Together, Play Together. We celebrate parks and recreational venues for physical health, for mental well-being, for access to play, and for our community!

The featured park this year is Sculpture Fields at Montague Park. The 33-acre international sculpture park is located on a restored brownfield and former city landfill. Currently, the field features over 40 large-scale sculptures. Find more information at the Sculpture Fields website including a map of the sculptures, information on an app to hear the artists remarks, and much more: https://www.sculpturefields.org/

Did you know that a private 501c3 leased the land from the city for the Sculpture Fields? In 2012 Sculpture Fields received its 501c3 non-profit determination and a 40-year lease was signed with City of Chattanooga to develop Sculpture Fields on 33 acres of Montague Park. The idea of a sculpture park was envisioned in 2006 and a grassroots effort led by internationally renowned sculptor John Henry kicked off. John Henry was a professor of art for Chattanooga State.

We have new pictures submitted by the library staff. 

Part Two of this series will be about the library staff pictures!

Check out our Instagram for park and recreation posts!

In my senior year in high school, I decided to take what I thought was an easy course called Recreational Sports. It wasn't easy. I learned how to play racquetball & volleyball, how to bowl, do archery, practice rifle target shooting; and I learned slow pitch softball, trampoline tricks, rappelling, golf, and disc golf. Those recreational lessons are still with me today.

Check out past featured parks of Main Terrain Art Park, Red Clay, Standing Stone, and the Head of Sequatchie River. The Sequatchie River exits a cave at full force on its journey to the Tennessee River. Red Clay is a historic park about the last Cherokee councils. Standing Stone is located north of Cookeville. Main Terrain converted a brownfield into a downtown park off Main Street with two retention ponds to drain storm water. The park has large replicas of the bridge.

Find a park to enjoy outside! Take a picture or write a note of your visit!

Part Two July Park & Recreation Month: Pictures from Library Staff

 

Part two of a two-part blog series on the Park and Recreation Month guide

Our KLIC staff members enjoy visiting local parks or traveling to visit cool places. Chattanooga parks including nearby Greenway Farms, Tennessee and Georgia parks, local hiking trails, Amsterdam, Chicago, Alabama, Costa Rica and many more pictures were submitted. We have staff who hike, have a rose garden, people who love beaches, people who kayak, and more. The KLIC library staff has park and recreation stories to join with the community where you belong!

This year's submissions brought new pictures from Amsterdam, Chicago, D.C., Birmingham, Huntsville, plus fun past pictures! You really have to check this page out.

Check out the video of pictures from the Library Staff!

Visit the park and recreation guide at https://library.chattanoogastate.edu/parks2024

Four Spirits Sculpture, Birmingham

 

Virgin Falls, Sparta

Rock Island State Park, TN

SpareTime Bowling with Library Staff

San Jose, Costa Rica

Monte Sano Park, Huntsville

July is Park and Recreation Month - Part One

 

By Dwight Hunter

One of my favorite guides to work on and to update each year is this guide: Park & Recreation Month Guide. It is a fun guide to look at park and recreation resources, and to view embedded videos, and to explore links and much more. This year's theme is Where You Belong. We celebrate parks and recreational venues for physical health, for mental well-being, for access to play, and for our community!

A new page on the guide is the Main Terrain Art Park located in downtown Chattanooga! Learn more about this park that combined green space, fitness stations, public art, and stormwater management.

We have new pictures submitted by the library staff. 

In my senior year in high school, I decided to take what I thought was an easy course called Recreational Sports. It wasn't easy. I learned how to play racquetball & volleyball, how to bowl, do archery, practice rifle target shooting; and I learned slow pitch softball, trampoline tricks, rappelling, golf, and disc golf. Those recreational lessons are still with me today.

Check out past featured parks of Red Clay, Standing Stone, and the Head of Sequatchie River. The Sequatchie River exits a cave at full force on its journey to the Tennessee River. Red Clay is a historic park about the last Cherokee councils. Standing Stone is located north of Cookeville.

Find a park to enjoy outside! Take a picture or write a note of your visit!

Part Three: Focus on Standing Stone for 2022 Park and Recreation Month

 

Part three of a three-part blog series on the Park and Recreation Month guide

Standing Stone State Park is located near Cookeville on the Cumberland Plateau. The park takes its name from the Standing Stone, a 12-foot-tall rock standing upright on a sandstone ledge. One explanation for the stone was a supposed boundary marker between Native American nations. The stone is still preserved in Monterey, TN. 

This hidden gem of a park offers paddling, fishing, hiking, waterfall chasing, cabins, and camping. From this park, you have a great base to explore other nearby attractions including Dale Hollow Lake, Cookeville, the Scenic Roaring River, the Boils WMA, and Cummins Falls State Park.

Find more information about the park at https://tnstateparks.com/parks/standing-stone

 Find the Park and Recreation Month guide at https://library.chattanoogastate.edu/park

Part Two: 2023 Pictures from Library Staff for Park and Recreation Month

 

Part two of a three-part blog series on the Park and Recreation Month guide

Our KLIC staff members enjoy visiting local parks or traveling to visit cool places. Chattanooga parks including nearby Greenway Farms, Tennessee and Georgia parks, local hiking trails, Ecuador, Maine and many more pictures were submitted. We have staff who hike, have a rose garden, people who love beaches, people who kayak, and more. The KLIC library staff has park and recreation stories to join with the community!

This year's submissions brought new pictures from Maine, Chicago, Ecuador, San Francisco, Stringer's Ridge, The Boils, plus fun past pictures of Colorado, the rocks of Lake Michigan, the Breakers, hiking Chickamauga park, and so much more! You really have to check this page out.

Check out the video of pictures from the Library Staff!

Visit the park and recreation guide at https://library.chattanoogastate.edu/park

Isla Lobos Galapagos

 

Greenway Farms, Hixson

 

Mount Desert Island, Maine

North Chickamauga Creek, Greenway Farms

Burgess Falls State Park, Cookeville

July 2023 is Park and Recreation Month - Part One

 

By Dwight Hunter

One of my favorite guides to work on and to update each year is this guide: Park & Recreation Month Guide. 

This is part one of a three-part blog series about this guide.  It is a fun guide to look at park and recreation resources, and to view embedded videos, and to explore links and much more.

This year's theme is Where Community Grows. We celebrate parks and recreational venues for physical health, for mental well-being, for access to play, and for our community!

A new page on the guide is Standing Stone State Park located near Cookeville. We have new pictures submitted by the library staff. Also on the guide is a page titled Local Parks Website where local parks in Hamilton County and Chattanooga are located. On the home page are websites for nearby state parks outside of Hamilton County.

 

In my senior year in high school, I decided to take what I thought was an easy course called Recreational Sports. It wasn't easy. I learned how to play racquetball & volleyball, how to bowl, do archery, practice rifle target shooting; and I learned slow pitch softball, trampoline tricks, rappelling, golf, and disc golf. Those recreational lessons are still with me today.

Use the information in the guide to find a park near you! As always each year, there are pictures submitted by the library staff that can be viewed -- more about the KLIC staff pictures in part two of the blog series!

Check out the feature pages of  Red Clay, Hiking Trails, and the Head of Sequatchie River. Here you can find websites for local hiking trails and a national trail database. The Sequatchie River exits a cave at full force on its journey to the Tennessee River. Red Clay is a historic park about the last Cherokee councils

Find a park to enjoy outside! Take a picture or write a note of your visit!