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Print Friendly MapThe South Chickamauga Creek Greenway offers 12 miles of trail alongside the wooded Chickamauga Creek through eastern Chattanooga and the community of East Ridge. The path winds through a mix of landscapes, including parks, commercial areas, and residential neighborhoods.
The southern part of the trail has a gravel and asphalt surface and is anchored by Camp Jordan Park, which spans 275 acres and provides a variety of recreational amenities. From the park, the trail heads north a little crossing Shallowford Road, just east of the Chattanooga Airport.
As the trail continues it goes under an active railroad, crosses Bonny Oaks Drive, and reaches N. Hawthorne Street. A highlight occurs near Sterchi Farm. In this area, you'll find elevated boardwalks over wetlands with steep inclines along the creek. You'll also find a canoe and kayak launch here.
Recently, the one-mile gap west from the northern trailhead to the Chattanooga Riverwalk (also known as the Tennessee Riverwalk) was closed. The Riverwalk heads into downtown Chattanooga along the Tennessee River. The two trails are connected by a 190-foot bridge.
Parking is available at the southern end of the trail in Camp Jordan Park (323 Camp Jordan Parkway, East Ridge).
At the northern end, trailheads are available at Faith Road, Sterchi Farm (2700 block of Harrison Pike), and the 3900 block of North Hawthorne Street.
We began our ride from a parking lot off Camp Jordan Park Road. Riding through the part was lovely, but signage advising the South Chickamauga Creek Greenway was non-existant so we missed crossing the necessary bridge to the trail. Once corrected, we found that the entire trail was poorly signed, having to ask for directions along the way so we didn't get lost. The "paved" section on the levee was so badly paved, it is better described as gravel, and the cross winds along the levee were extreme. The second half of the ride offered a better paved and boardwalk surface and crosswinds were blocked a bit better by the landscape. At the northern trailhead we turned south on the Tennessee Riverwalk to extend our trip. This was the best part of our day! We enjoyed our adventure, but would recommend beginning at a trailhead after the 6 mile marker.
Best bike ride in Chattanooga for me. LOVE IT!
We have done this trail twice from Camp Jordan. But if you want a shorter ride and experience all the amazing boardwalks start at Hawthorne Trailhead. Immediately you are on a short section of boardwalk and then continue on a lovely paved trail through the forests. You will soon hit two more amazing long boardwalk sections high in the trees. In a total of about 5 miles you will get the best of the trail.
We biked this trail from Camp Jordan to the Riverwalk, about 12 miles. The southern portion was sunny & degraded with gravelly spots, along Brainerd Levee until you cross hwy 11. From there it’s smooth riding with many long (some 1/2 mi) boardwalks that hug the creek. It was scenic and lightly used on that Saturday. I’d recommend the northern portion for sure!
We started this bike path at the Sterchi trailhead. The trailhead had a nice gazebo and clean bathrooms. We headed south starting around mile marker three. The path was asphalt until it turned into a boardwalk. The boardwalk was amazing and continued for a majority of the trail until mile marker six when we turned around because we started heading into a neighborhood and closer to the airport. A lot of the trail is shaded so we will definitely come back in the summertime to have a cool ride. The boardwalks are beautiful along the creek.
Boardwalks and bridges are amazing! Trail is now completed for 13 miles from Riverwalk to Camp Jordan. A little confusing at Shallowford Road and Caine Street. Zoom in on Google maps to see sidewalks to connect. Great ride!
This trail is really well done. The trail is easy to follow. Fairly wide and well kept. Plenty of shade in most parts. Nice views of the river and from the bridges.
Now completed to Camp Jordan. Beautiful scenery along the creek on incredible board walk system. Bonus - on weekends perfect train spotting location where it crosses the TVRM track. See the Southern 4501 steam engine from different angles crossing the bridge over the creek.
This trail is completed!! It is now time to get the map on this app updated. We started at Riverpark and rode to Camp Jordan. This trail in the first 2/3s is made up of boardwalks. The boards are spaced together and fairly smooth. I was pleasantly surprised by the smoothness of this trail. The southern 1/3 of the trail is constructed of decaying asphalt and needs repair. There are two places that signage needs to be placed to help riders make the correct turns. The first is about a mile from Riverpark. There needs to be a sign indicating staying to the right. The second signage needs to be at Shallowford and Airport Roads. Riders need to turn West on Shallowford and stay on the sidewalk.
This trail has been built in many sections over the years with the last middle connector nearing completion. There was a period that some repairs seemed to have been ignored but within the last few months they have repaired a lot of damage that was either done by fallen trees or some rotten wood on the decking. The section that is currently connected to the Riverpark has parking at that location as well as North Hawthorne, Sterchi Farms and Faith Rd. Sterchi Farms is currently closed due to the upgrades that are being done on this area. The trail is technically closed at this point but most people just continue on because they are only disturbing about a 100 yard length of the trail and typically aren't even working on the trail itself anymore. The 2 bridges in this section are really nice bridges. This section stays right on the creek for the most part except where it goes behind Waterhaven Subdivision (thank you to those owners for their easement along their properties). There is an elevated section that climbs pretty far up the hillside to get around a large rock outcrop but gives a very nice elevated view of the creek. They have added bathrooms at Sterchi Farms recently as well as a covered picnic area. Adjacent to this area is a large area for climbing and playing.
The section currently connected to Camp Jordan has the levee that is pretty level and smooth but is mixed sections of packed and loose gravel so be aware of that if you do not like that type of surface. It does return to asphalt prior to going under I-75. There is a point where it crosses Brainerd Rd that you have to cross, at a traffic light, or go down the stairs, under the bridge then back up the stairs. The rest is all paved surface including the loop around Camp Jordan that used to be gravel.
We rode this trail today and learned about “Faith” Hill at the very end of the trail, just beyond the construction site of the last 3 miles that is going to join the trail to Camp Jordan. At any rate, the hill is loose gravel and straight up! Be prepared to work your bike to get up that hill and we were sliding on the way back down, but overall, a great, fun ride on a beautiful and blustery spring day. Do it, you won’t be disappointed!
Very nice trail, away from traffic , not busy. We headed out around 9:30 am. It had rained overnight. A couple of the wooden board walks were like oil. I went down twice. By the time we road to the end & turned around only the one was still slick. If it has rained I would recommend riding this in the afternoon. It is almost completed shaded, so it would be rideable. My only other complaint is there were a couple places trees had taken out part of the railing. At one it had taken out the flooring. I would have given this 5 stars, if not for needed repairs & slick boards. out part of the boardwalk
Rode from the trailhead near boathouse restaurant to the dam. Then back and beyond to downtown. Back to the Boathouse for lunch before hitting the road home.
I run the northern part (most of it) out and back to the Riverpoint parking area.Very quiet and very few other people on the trail. Like running in the woods 8-). I will be back.
Excellent use of boardwalks to make this trail accessible. A most enjoyable outing!
We parked at Riverpoint park, and rode to the end where it turns to gravel (just past Bonny Oaks Dr.). 10mi round trip. They must have spent a mint on this trail. It is full of long boardwalks built in the woods on the banks of the river. Shaded with lots of scenery. Restrooms, water at Riverpoint park. Lots of ups and downs. Combine with Riverwalk trail for 22mi roundtrip.
I rode the north portion of this trail by getting on it from the Riverwalk trail. It is absolutely beautiful! Nice bridges and elevated trail sections. One of my favorite trails! Quiet and peaceful. The southern portion of this trail was fine. The trail is in good shape but not nearly as scenic. I will be back to do the northern portion again but not the southern portion.
Left from Camp Jordan and completed the trail to the end and came back. Overall trail was easy, flat, and a good ride. The only negative was where I had to do down a couple of flights of stairs to go under the highway and then go back up to get back to the trail. Very few people on it but it was a holiday.
Easy trail with plenty of shade for a hot day. There is beautiful scenery along the creek with numerous foot and railroad bridges. Bring your camera.
Five star Hike.
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