I am beyond excited to share that the South Chickamauga Creek Greenway has been completed and now connects with the Tennessee Riverwalk, which actually connects with the Virginia Avenue Greenway in St. Elmo. This opens up an incredible amount of opportunities to get out and explore the great outdoors within the city limits of Chattanooga.
South Chickamauga Creek Greenway Section
On the morning of April 30th my friend Jason and I set out to bike the newly connected 27-mile path from Camp Jordan in East Ridge all the way to the end of the Virginia Avenue Greenway in St. Elmo. We met in St. Elmo to drop off a car at the finish, loaded up the bikes in one car, stopped for a cup of coffee at Goodman Coffee Roasters in St. Elmo before driving across town to Camp Jordan to start our journey. Once we unloaded the gear the clock read 9:52am.
We started by taking the two mile path around Camp Jordan before crossing the creek and officially started on the South Chickamauga Creek Greenway. The path goes underneath Interstate-75, behind the Walmart Supercenter, crosses over Brainerd Road, and then continues on to the Brainerd Levee and Shallowford Road.
In this section of the path you will pass over the Brainerd Levee, which was built in the 1970’s to prevent flood waters from the South Chickamauga Creek from damaging the neighborhoods in the Brainerd area. The paved path is raised and, with the help of the levee, creates a freshwater marsh with animal habitats home to the Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Sedge Wrens, Palm Warbler, and the North American Box Turtle.
The path continues north on Shallowford Road away from the Circle K and after about half a mile crosses over at Caine Lane. If you keep to the sidewalk the path connects back with the apartments and homes by the large field on the other side of Camellia Drive. The paved path continues by the old dead tree before turning into a wooden boardwalk beside the creek. This is a very fun section because it goes downhill for about three quarters of a mile before reaching the crossing of railroad bridges behind the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. There is some interesting history here which you can read about in my “Exploring the Newly Completed South Chickamauga Creek Greenway” post here.
The boardwalk continues on up and down some slight grades, passing under many more railroad bridges over the South Chickamauga Creek. After a few more miles, the path leads to a bridge under Bonny Oaks Road, continuing onto a potentially stopping point at Sterchi Farm with a covered patio and public restrooms. The path is pretty self explanatory all the way from Sterchi Farm to the Tennessee Riverwalk trailhead at Lost Mound Road. You will go underneath a large road, Amnicola Highway, and come to a fork in the path. Take the path up the hill to the right, this will bring you to a rest stop with public restrooms and the blue metal bridge to again cross over the creek to continue on the Tennessee Riverwalk.
Tennessee Riverwalk Section
The Tennessee Riverwalk is a very straightforward path traveling behind the industrial buildings and restaurants on Amnicola Highway, the rowing center on Riverside Drive (with public restrooms), Manker Patten Tennis Club, all the way up the hill on Battery Place and on the bridge over Georgia Avenue into the Bluff View Art District.
We made a short pit stop here for some rest and cold drinks from Rembrandt’s Coffee House. At this point, Jason and I had biked for 18-miles nonstop and appreciated a little break before hopping back on the bikes and continuing on the Riverwalk. To continue on the Riverwalk you will need to bike in front of the Hunter Museum of Art and take the path to the left to take the zig-zag path downhill and under the Walnut Street Bridge to the river level area by the Tennessee Aquarium. One the day that we went, the Tennessee Aquarium was hosting an event on the Chattanooga Green event celebrating its 30th anniversary. There were tents, food trucks, and a live music stage.
The path continues down the river underneath Interstate-27 and along Riverfront Parkway before taking a sharp turn by Ross’ Landing Boat Ramp to go behind Scottie’s on the River and the Cameron Harbor Townhomes. At the large vibrant modern structure you can go up the hill to find public restrooms at the Blue Goose Hollow Trailhead or can continue on the path behind more industrial buildings. There is one doozy of a hill in this section between Blue Goose Hollow Trailhead and the Chestnut Street Trailhead just past the Interstate-24 overpass. You’ll find “YAY!” spray painted in yellow at top of the hill to celebrate your hard work. The path continues behind abandoned industrial buildings, in a small tunnel with a sign inscribed “Wheland Foundry Pass” and onto the newly developed area by the Publix in St. Elmo. You’ll need to cross over Broad Street at the crosswalk to go onto the path along St. Elmo Avenue.
Virginia Avenue Greenway
At this point, the Tennessee Riverwalk has come to its natural end, but if you cross over the road at Mr. T’s Pizza & Ice Cream and turn right you will find the beginning of the Virginia Avenue Greenway at Sawasdee Thai Restaurant. The Virginia Avenue Greenway is a simple, mostly level paved path that cuts right through the historic St. Elmo neighborhood. You will pass behind beautiful homes with unique features and designs for about two miles before coming to the end of the path by the Avocado Little Library at the end of Virginia Avenue.
We ended our 27-mile journey here at 1:05pm. Our bike trip took just over three hours and was accessible entirely by safe, paved or wooden paths. It passed by numerous natural animal habitats and the beautiful South Chickamauga Creek and Tennessee River. To celebrate our hard work we grabbed burgers at The Tap House & Empyreal Brewing Company.
If you were doing this trip solo or wanted to really push yourself, you could turn around at the end of Virginia Avenue and make your way back along the path you just traveled to Camp Jordan for a rigorous 54-mile bike trip. You could count it as practice and then compete in the annual Hincapie Gran Fondo for the 55-mile Medio race.