Explore the best rated trails in Charleston, TN, whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Cleveland/Bradley County Greenway and Eureka Trail . With more than 9 trails covering 52 miles you're bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
We were looking forward to this ride a long time as reviews rate it highly. For us it was quite the opposite. The trail did have its moments and from the start looked very promising, however those moments were short and far in between. The first of the issues were the trail closures with no notice at trail heads or reroutes. You merely run into a blockage where your only option is to turn around load up your bikes, go a couple of miles to the next bike parking, unload, ride a couple of miles and hit another trail block. Second issue, the trail is poorly marked. We literally spent more time trying to find our way through Chattanooga than riding our bikes. Trail Link helped but what a mess. I can’t imagine riding this trail in peak season as it was, our ride early Feb, 50 deg late morning saw many pedestrian obstacles. Chattanooga is a busy place, a nice city to be sure along with that comes constant traffic noise.
Park by the outdoor barn or the farm center on the map. There’s a dog park nearby. The quarry has beautiful views and is worth the hike.
amazing hike and great views with perfect place for swimming
Very peaceful trail with an occasional visit by deer & turkeys. A really peaceful walk.
The trail is really nice, it just needs to be 2 or 3 times longer. Listed on TrailLink as 7.3 miles, but posted with markers as 5.6.
We rode the entire pathway, starting at the northern dam site. This is one of the most enjoyable, varied, and well maintained routes we've ridden! The entire route is well done, with light poles the entire way, elevated sections or bridges thru all types of natural areas (instead of around), and many parks or trailside restrooms. Whether thru parks, alongside the highway, or even past industrial businesses, the trail is landscaped O meadow-scaped), the path is smooth, and
We loved the trail and rode it round trip multiple times to train for our Katy trail tour. We and our bikes got really dusty and dirty, but that wasn’t a big deal. Do be careful at the traffic crossings.
Today 4-17-2025 my husband and I rode the trail from the Wheland Factory parking lot to the Dam. The first part of the trail goes past some industrial areas. As we got further up it goes past townhomes and downtown. Our only complaint was the lack of trail signage to keep you on tract and mileage markers. There were some metal cutouts with numbers indicating the miles and some very small markers in the concrete itself with markings but unless you stopped to read them, there was no way you could have read them as you pedaled by. The trail itself is in good shape and we saw several crews keeping the grounds surrounding the trail trimmed.
Rode from the bottom TH all the way up and back again. Gravel bike did great. Enjoyed the scenery and history. But the trail simply dead ends on a busy road. I took the road up higher on Lookout Mountain, but was not worth the extra ride.
The multiple boardwalks and intermittent views of the creek are what make this trail a 5*. As noted by another reviewer: A large section of trail is CLOSED until July 2027. If you are coming from Camp Jordan and heading north, you cannot cross I-75. But the 11 miles of trail north of I-75 to downtown Chattanooga are open. I parked at Sterchi Farm TH and did some out-and-backs. The best scenery (ie, the boardwalks) are north and south of Sterchi Farm TH.
The SO Chick trail follows the Chickamauga Creek but it is not a flat trail that follows the grade of a river or an old rail line.
We started our ride at the Tennessee River and the shared trail head with the Riverwalk trail. As the trail goes up stream is climbs high on the hillside banks. Half of the trail distance is wooden boardwalks, and a couple of the climbs are so steel that they created switchbacks.
Another clue this is not a rail to trail path is the many railways along the path that are active. The path runs along side an active line for a stretch and at one point 4 active lines can be viewed from the same spot. On the 10 mile round trip we saw 4 trains including the Tennessee Valley Railroad scenic train.
This is a very pretty trail with a lot of hill and turns. Boardwalks are in good condition, but being boardwalk they are not smooth and can be slippery.
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