Find the top rated cross country skiing trails in Athens, whether you're looking for an easy short cross country skiing trail or a long cross country skiing trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a cross country skiing trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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.
The Townsend trail is all paved, wide enough for 2 bikes to pass each other. I take my dog in a trailer behind my ebike. The trail is on both sides of the road. The one on the right side is further away from the road and more hilly. The one on the left side has more road noise, once u get away from the river. It is the side with all the businesses on it so lots for driveway bumps. You can connect to the other side by 2 different bike tunnels so u don’t have to cross the road. We rode on a Thursday so traffic was so so but enough to make up want to ride the other side. Not a very interesting trail but nice enough.
Easy peasant ride. All paved on both sides of the road. Nice spots to stop, shop, eat and drink. Close to Cades Cove and entrance to Smoky Mountains. Worth the visit.
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.
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.
Drove to the trailhead at Camp Jordan Recreation Area. The Recreation area has a paved 2-mile section of the trail and a bridge over the creek in the direction of the Chattanooga River Trail. The problem is that the bridge is closed and a significant part of the trail connection between the Recreation Area and the River Trail is closed until 2027 due to extensive sewer work. You can access the Greenway from the River Trail and ride to the levee but then you would need to turn around.
This is a great trail for working off your winter fluff - it is challenging in areas with hills which for those of us who spent the winter either shoveling snow or hibernating (me) came as a surprise! The trail itself is paved with asphalt or concrete slabs. The asphalt areas have tree roots humps and bumps accompanied with a couple heaves. The poured concrete slabs were in decent shape. The trail goes alongside Melton Lake - pretty early spring views from the bluff. Many people were out enjoying the warm temps and the crew teams were out on the water. I
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