Stringer's Ridge | |
---|---|
Length | Approx. 10 miles (16 km) |
Location | Chattanooga, TN |
Designation | Preservation easement |
Trailheads | Spears Avenue trailhead, Bell Avenue trailhead |
Use | Hiking, Mountain biking, Trail running |
Difficulty | Easy to strenuous and technical |
Season | Year-round |
Sights | Scenic overlook of Chattanooga, Tennessee |
Stringer's Ridge Preservation Easement, generally known as Stringer's Ridge, is a 92 acre wilderness park located in North Chattanooga, Tennessee. [1] The ridge overlooks the North Shore, the Tennessee River and downtown Chattanooga. The trail terrain consists of rolling hills and some short steep sections. Though the trail is well-groomed, it does have some tree roots along this single-track trail. Mature oak and hickory trees dominate the ridge. The Tennessee River Gorge Trust, the City of Chattanooga and The Trust for Public Land are involved in preserving and maintaining the area.
Three hills make up Stringer's Ridge, a view so strategic that it was the site of the first Union invasion of Chattanooga. On June 7, 1862, Brigadier General James S. Negley's forces bombed Chattanooga from this ridge. The Confederate forces had control of the city until General John T. Wilder's Union army took the ridge named for Captain William Stringer. [2]
In the years 2007 and 2008, Chattanooga's North Shore was threatened by the potential development of 500 condos on Stringer's Ridge. The objection to such a proposal led to The Trust for Public Land campaign to purchase 37 acres on Stringer's Ridge. The landowner of the 37 acres also agreed to donate an additional 55 acres of adjacent property to the conservation effort. In 2009, the Tennessee River Gorge Trust became the conservation easement holder on the entire 92 acres. [3]
The City of Chattanooga directly received ownership of the original 37 acres on Stringer's Ridge. Since 2011, the ownership of the remaining 55 acres has been transferred to the City of Chattanooga. However, the Tennessee River Gorge Trust continues to hold a conservation easement on all 92 acres. [4]
Stringer's Ridge contains three trail loops totaling 10 miles, ranging from easy difficulty to strenuous. Most of the trails are family oriented allowing for leisurely stroll, while some of the trail is designated for more experienced hikers. A picnic area is located on the south side of the park. The park has two trail heads. One is on the south end on Old Bell Avenue, while the other is on the north end located on Spears Avenue. An outlook structure has recently been added to the park.
The Collins River is a 67-mile-long (108 km) stream in the east-central portion of Middle Tennessee in the United States. It is a tributary of the Caney Fork, and is part of the Cumberland, Ohio and Mississippi watersheds. The river drains the scenic Savage Gulf area, located just below the river's source, and empties into Great Falls Lake at Rock Island State Park.
Black Rock Mountain State Park is a 1,743-acre (705 ha) Georgia, United States, state park west of Mountain City in Rabun County, in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It is named after its sheer cliffs of dark-colored biotite gneiss. Astride the Eastern Continental Divide at an elevation of 3,640 feet (1,110 m), the park provides many scenic overlooks and 80-mile (130 km) vistas of the southern Appalachian Mountains. On a clear day, four states are visible: Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. In addition to Black Rock Mountain itself, the park includes four other peaks over 3,000 feet (910 m) in elevation, making it the state's highest state park. As of 2019, it was open to visitors year round.
Fall Creek Falls State Resort Park is a state park in Van Buren and Bledsoe counties, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The over 30,638-acre (123.99 km2) park is centered on the upper Cane Creek Gorge, an area known for its unique geological formations and scenic waterfalls. The park's namesake is the 256-foot (78 m) Fall Creek Falls, the highest free-fall waterfall east of the Mississippi River.
The Tennessee River Gorge is a 26-mile (42 km) canyon formed by the Tennessee River known locally as Cash Canyon. It is the fourth largest river gorge in the Eastern United States. The gorge is cut into the Cumberland Plateau as the river winds its way into Alabama from Tennessee. The Tennessee River Gorge was also known as Walden Gorge. Walden Ridge originally extended across the present path of the Tennessee River at the gorge to Sand Mountain.
The International Mountain Bicycling Association-Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association (IMBA-SORBA) is an advocacy organization for mountain biking in the Southeastern United States. IMBA-SORBA is a regional division of International Mountain Bicycling Association, managed by an executive director and a board of directors. The board of directors is composed of an elected executive board, plus one representative from each chapter. The organization has over 5000 members.
The Justin P. Wilson Cumberland Trail State Park, commonly known as the Cumberland Trail, is a Tennessee hiking trail following a line of ridges and gorges along the eastern escarpment of the Cumberland Plateau and Cumberland Mountains in Tennessee. The trail begins at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park and ends at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park and Prentice Cooper Wildlife Management Area just outside Chattanooga, Tennessee. The trail travels through 11 Tennessee counties and two time zones.
Open Space Institute (OSI) is a conservation organization that protects land for clean drinking water, public recreation, healthy communities, wildlife habitat, and climate protection. Established in 1974, OSI achieves its goals through land acquisition, fiscal sponsorship, regional loan and grant programs, park and trail improvements, and public policy and advocacy. OSI is active across the country, including the states of New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Alabama, West Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida.
Red Clay State Historic Park is a state park located in southern Bradley County, Tennessee, United States. The park was the site of the last capital of the Cherokee Nation in the eastern United States from 1832 to 1838 before the enforcement of the Indian Removal Act of 1830. This resulted in a forced migration of most of the Cherokee people to present-day Oklahoma known as the Cherokee removal. The site is considered sacred to the Cherokees, and includes the Blue Hole Spring, a large hydrological spring. It is also listed as an interpretive center along the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail.
Booker T. Washington State Park is a 353-acre (1.43 km2) park situated on the shores of Chickamauga Lake. It was built largely by African-American units of the Civilian Conservation Corps. It was originally designated under segregation as one of two Tennessee State Parks for use by blacks until discrimination in public accommodations in the United States was banned under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Talcott Mountain of central Connecticut, with a high point of 950 feet (290 m), is a 13-mile (21 km) long trap rock mountain ridge located 6 miles (10 km) west of the city of Hartford. The ridge, a prominent landscape feature, forms a continuous line of exposed western cliffs visible across the Farmington River valley from Farmington to Simsbury. Talcott Mountain is part of the narrow, linear Metacomet Ridge that extends from Long Island Sound near New Haven, Connecticut, north through the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts to the Vermont border.
Hatchett Hill, est. 510 feet (160 m), is a trap rock ridge located in East Granby, Connecticut, 11 miles (18 km) northeast of Hartford, Connecticut. It is part of the narrow, linear Metacomet Ridge that extends from Long Island Sound near New Haven, Connecticut, north through the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts to the Vermont border. The southern edge of the ridge plunges nearly 200 vertical feet into the Tariffville Gorge. The ridge is known for its rugged topography, unique microclimate ecosystems, rare plant communities, and as a seasonal raptor migration path. It is traversed by the 51-mile (82 km) Metacomet Trail.
West Rock Ridge or West Rock of south-central Connecticut, is a 7-mile (11 km) long trap rock mountain ridge located on the west side of New Haven with a high point of 700 feet (213 m). The ridge forms a continuous line of exposed cliffs visible from metropolitan New Haven and points west. West Rock Ridge is part of the narrow, linear Metacomet Ridge which extends from Long Island Sound near New Haven north through the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts to the Vermont border.
Ozone Falls State Natural Area is a state natural area in Cumberland County, Tennessee in the southeastern United States. It consists of 43 acres (0.17 km2) centered on Ozone Falls, a 110-foot (34 m) plunge waterfall, and its immediate gorge along Fall Creek. Because of its picturesque beauty and easy access, Disney selected Ozone Falls for scenes for their live-action film "Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book". The area is managed by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and maintained by Cumberland Mountain State Park. It is also part of Cumberland Trail State Park.
The Tennessee River Blueway is a 50-mile (80 km) section of the Tennessee River that flows between the Chickamauga Dam and the Nickajack Dam and through downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee and the Tennessee River Gorge. The City of Chattanooga, the Tennessee River Gorge Trust, and other agencies have designated the section of river as a blueway for canoe and kayak paddler. The Blueway has camping areas next to the river, as well as museums, restaurants, activities, entertainment, and natural attractions. From there, the Blueway meanders its way to quieter places like Williams Island State Archaeological Park. Williams Island divides the river channel with a 450-acre (1.8 km2) tract of land inhabited only by wildlife. From about 1000 to 1650, this area was home to several Native American tribes. It is now managed by the Tennessee River Gorge Trust. Then next of course is the 26-mile (42 km) stretch of the Tennessee River Gorge, a steep canyon formed by the Tennessee River. The land provides habitats for more than a thousand varieties of plants, ferns, trees, grasses and flowers as well as a wildlife population. Many of these are rare or endangered species such as the mountain skullcap. Dozens of archaeological sites bear evidence of man's presence in the Gorge for at least 10,000 years. There is a secluded spot where you can see Nickajack Cave from the water. Tennessee Valley Authority biologists monitor its bat population and encourage the public to "bat watch." There is no cave access, but canoeists and kayakers can observe the bats from the river.
Treetops is the former estate of torch singer and actress Libby Holman. It forms the southernmost part of Mianus River Park and is overseen by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection as the Mianus River State Park.
The Fiery Gizzard Trail runs from Tracy City, Tennessee to Foster Falls in Marion County, Tennessee. It is renowned for its beauty and diversity, cited by Backpacker magazine as one of the top 25 hiking trails in the United States. The 12.5-mile (20.1 km) trail offers scenic views, waterfalls, rock formations, and hemlock trees over 200 years old.
The Land Trust for Tennessee is an non-profit conservation organization working to protect Tennessee's natural, scenic, and historic landscapes and sites. Since 1999, The Land Trust has conserved more than 135,000 acres (550 km2) of land across 65-plus Tennessee counties.
The Tennessee River Gorge Trust is a non-profit land trust conservation group acquiring and maintaining conservation areas, building trails, and conducting environmental studies and education programs in the Tennessee River Gorge near Chattanooga, Tennessee. It is involved in preserving natural areas along the Tennessee River. The group was established in 1981.