The Nickajack Naturalist: January 2010

It's been about ten months since I reported on a meeting to develop a comprehensive recreational plan for the Tennessee River Gorge area. Let me begin with a bit of history.

During Three Star public hearings in 2005, Marion County citizens requested that local officials seek to create more walking and biking opportunities in the county. As a result, the Marion County Chamber of Commerce established the Marion County Greenways and Trails Committee. I became involved with the committee in early 2006. Over the next three years, we held between 15 and 20 public meetings, getting feedback from land owners, public officials, and user groups. The committee did a feasibility study and mapped out potential trail routes.

After initially coming up with eight or nine ideas for trail or greenway projects, we settled on two: 1. A system of multi use (hiking and biking) trails connecting the Marion County Park with Chattanooga's greenway system. 2. A greenway trail potentially linking the towns of Jasper, Kimball, and South Pittsburg.

Jeff Duncan, of the National Park Service's Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program arranged meetings bringing together user groups and land managers, and helped develop a Tennessee River Gorge Corridor recreational plan. SORBA Chattanooga, the local mountain bike group, got involved early in the process and will be a major force in a River Gorge Trail system becoming a reality. Jim Brown and the Tennessee River Gorge Trust has been a primary partner in this process.

Over the course of 2009, as plans for a Tennessee River Gorge Recreational Coalition solidified, the coverage area was expanded to include all of Prentice Cooper State Forest, as well as all public lands along or near the river between the gorge and the state line at South Pittsburg. This includes the Jasper to South Pittsburg greenway project. We finally settled on the name Nickajack Recreational Corridor Coalition, and I was designated as coordinator.

Click on the link below to see a draft for a brochure we're developing which further explains the coalition's mission. Feel free to contact me for more information or if you would like to get involved.

Bob Butters

[email protected]

423-991-1548

Download DRAFT_BROCHURE[1]

Recently, on a very cold winter day, Kim and I explored a new trail that has been constructed at Cloudland Canyon State Park near Trenton, GA. It's called the Sitton Gulch Trail. Beginning at the foot of the 600 step staircase on the Waterfall Trail, it follows Daniel Creek downstream, ending with a short loop in a bottomland area near the mouth of the canyon. It's rated strenuous because of the staircase and is 6.5 miles round trip from the top of the stairs. Once you're done with all those stairs, the trail is well built and easy to hike. Of course, you have to go back up the steps in order to get out. Overall, I recommend checking this trail out.