New Section of Greenway Opens

With the opening of the new South Chickamauga Creek Greenway (map), Chattanooga has moved one step closer to realizing a continuous trail system in Chattanooga that will ultimately run for 20 miles throughout the city.

More details about the plan were discussed at nooga.com yesterday:

The Chattanooga Greenway Master Plan was developed in 1994, sometime after the Tennessee Riverpark and Riverwalk projects were already underway, Wood said. Though they are separate projects, the goal is to continue building riverwalks and greenways to create a network for recreational opportunities and protect the environment. The trails also provide alternative transportation, Wood said.

"The vision is to have it interconnect so that if you get on a bike, you can ride from Camp Jordan all the way to the Tennessee River on the South Chickamauga Creek Greenway, hit the Riverwalk and then go all the way downtown," Wood said. "We are planning on extending the Riverwalk to the foot of Lookout Mountain and hit some trails at the base of Lookout Mountain."

The Hamilton County Commission last week signed off on a $1.4 million design contract for the Riverwalk expansion that will begin at Ross's Landing Park, following the Tennessee River along Riverside Drive, behind Alstom, on to St. Elmo, connecting the Guild Trail and Hardy Trail, Engineer Todd Leamon said.

Chattanooga already has quite a few miles of trails already in place. For more more information about hiking and other area adventures, see Outdoor Chattanooga.