One morning last summer I decided to take my middle child for a walk on the South Chickamauga Creek Greenway. I loaded up the BOB Revolution jogging stroller, some snacks and water, and we were off. We started at the Faith Road Trailhead over by Bonny Oaks and Highway 157. The descent from the parking area to the paved trail is a doozy with its steep incline. At the bottom by the South Chickamauga Creek I noticed thick trees covered by lots of orange tape, cones, and signs saying, “Under Construction”. The posters mention that work was being done to connect the greenway from Faith Road to Shallowford, connecting the path from Camp Jordan in East Ridge all the way to the Tennessee Riverwalk at Lost Mound Drive in Chattanooga. There wasn’t a proposed date of completion, so I just logged it away and carried on with the walk. My son and I had a great time, singing songs, talking about bugs, and just enjoying the calm nature scene.
Then comes April 17th, 2022. It is the morning of Easter Sunday and I just had the urge to check in on the current status of the work done to the new section of the greenway. I found some articles from March of 2022 saying the path was completed, but others were inconclusive. After breakfast I took my oldest son and a pack filled with snacks and water to set off on an exploration of the new greenway section. My goal was to determine for myself if it was in fact completed, and if so, how much was finished and where it ended. I didn’t know for sure how the journey would end, but yet, we went into the “wild unknown”. (cue “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly” from Ennio Morricone)
We started our journey in the same location, the Faith Road Trailhead. After making the treacherous descent to the path we find that all the orange tape, cones, and signs are gone and the path is clear, so off we went. The path is paved for about an eighth of a mile before you come to the boardwalk. It climbs over the steep slope of the hillside and the plant life below. After some time the path comes to the bridge at Lightfoot Mill Road. After this you will take the boardwalk as it winds underneath the old train bridges and pipelines that crisscross the South Chickamauga Creek.
Near the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum is a display of the original location of the 1859 railroad track and a sign showing the height of the water from the Great Flood of 1867. This was the largest flood the city of Chattanooga has had on record. There was a four day long rainstorm that caused the water of the Tennessee River and South Chickamauga Creek to rise 58 feet above its normal level. By March 9th most of Chattanooga’s streets were four to eight feet of water. After the waters receded the city acted to raise the streets higher to prevent such a degree of destruction in the future. You can still see some older buildings downtown with doors and windows sticking just barely poking out from the sidewalk or basement doors that lead nowhere. This storm and flood destroyed the only bridge crossing the Tennessee River and the city of Chattanooga was without one until the Walnut Street Bridge was completed in 1891.
Back to the greenway, the boardwalk continues on the banks of the river just outside of the reach of Cromwell Road. After a while the boardwalk path turns back to concrete behind the apartments on Camellia Drive. The path winds its way to Caine Lane following the sidewalk to the intersection at Shallowford Road. If you use the crosswalk and turn right, continuing south towards North Moore Road, you may see a red Circle K gas station in the distance. It is at this place where you will find the Brainerd Levee Trailhead for the South Chickamauga Creek Greenway.
The section from Shallowford at the Brainerd Levee continues and crosses over Brainerd Road by the Walmart Supercenter. It continues onwards underneath Highway 75 and over the bridge into Camp Jordan. The new section of the greenway does in fact connect Brainerd Levee to Faith Road, creating a 12 mile path from Camp Jordan to the Tennessee Riverwalk at Lost Mound Drive. In fact, if you are brave enough you could even take the 27-mile journey from Camp Jordan to the Tennessee Riverwalk and all the way to the end of the Virginia Avenue Greenway in St. Elmo.
I am very excited about this extension of the South Chickamauga Creek Greenway. It opens up so much for local and traveling explorers to get outside, unplug, and see all that Chattanooga has to offer! This path has been in the works since 1994. The reason it has taken so long is because there are about fifty different land owners along the now completed greenway. The Trust for Public Land had to ensure that all the landowners were willing and agreed to the plans for construction. The project also needed support from all living Chattanooga mayors since the beginning of the work in 1994. In addition, because of the robust wildlife along the creek bank, an environmental regulator needed to inspect and ensure that the greenway would not harm protected wildlife habitats.
I greatly enjoyed my Sunday morning walk along the banks of the South Chickamauga Creek using the new greenway. Get out and explore all that Chattanooga has to offer!