John Shearer: Exploring And Searching For Greenways, Part 2 – Finding Pluto On The Tennessee Riverwalk

After having written a few days back about visiting Coolidge and Renaissance Parks and the Stringers Ridge trails of North Chattanooga, I decided on Saturday morning to examine the Tennessee Riverwalk off Amnicola Highway.

While my original intentions with this series were to both find less visited or hidden greenway areas in the Chattanooga area and potential park areas where the land is still bucolic or pristine, I ended up visiting the two most popular greenway areas in my first two entries.

Perhaps by convenience, I found it easy Saturday simply to cross the C.B. Robinson Bridge from my home in the Northgate Mall area and pull into one of the Tennessee Riverwalk’s numerous parking areas/trailheads.

But it ended up being a two-hour journey by foot and car that was exhilarating and full of new discoveries.

The latter is because the Tennessee Riverwalk to most Chattanoogans, including me until last weekend, is both a familiar friend and one that has not fully revealed itself to most people. Chances are most area residents have followed its development and maybe been to the main Tennessee Riverpark area for a family cookout, to go fishing or some event.

But except for those with aspirations of competing in marathons, triathlons or the Tour de France, many people probably have not seen a good part of this mostly linear greenway.

I remember when the Tennessee Riverwalk was first being discussed in the 1980s around other riverfront developments like the Tennessee Aquarium construction and the preservation of the Walnut Street Bridge.

I think I was even asked to attend one Riverwalk planning meeting at a time when I was only in my mid-20s and had been on the staff of the Chattanooga News-Free Press maybe only a year or so. I remember how self-confident all the planning professionals and civic leaders involved seemed to me as someone unfamiliar with detailed urban planning, much less saying something in public in an articulate way.

On Saturday, 35 or so years after attending that meeting, I finally got to enjoy more fully the finished product, even though I have been to the Riverpark section of the Riverwalk quite a few times.

I initially parked my car at the trailhead just on the downtown side of the Tennessee Riverpark entrance. The reason I did this was that on the previous Thursday, I had gone jogging there by chance and was surprised to learn it has a giant field going down to the river.

Many people might simply stay on the concrete path and cross the handsome bridge over South Chickamauga Creek, so I was pleasantly surprised to find a giant field by going down the side walkway to the river past a couple of small playgrounds.

As someone who tries to run on grass when I go jogging due to shin splints I suffered when I was younger and regularly pounding the pavement, I love places like this. And at one corner of the field at the terminus of the side sidewalk, a nice view can be found of the river, Rivermont Park, and the Enclave at Riverview, where Rivermont Golf Club used to be.

But to me, the most interesting part was a small strip of grassland along the river heading back north in the direction of the Tennessee Riverpark. I imagined this as former farmland, and some settlers of long ago enjoying walking on it.

On Saturday when I returned, I initially planned to take a few pictures at different stops, and then go jogging somewhere specific like the Tennessee Riverpark. But almost immediately, I found myself jogging to these places to get pictures.

To even do a little cardiovascular work to get breathing heavy, I took a long stride of a couple hundred yards with my camera in hand. I am not sure what I might have looked like if someone had seen me, but I was enjoying the experience.

Only when I got back to the bridge area over the creek did I see another person, so I have a feeling this field is not used as much as it could be or as much as the Tennessee Riverpark’s fields just a few hundred yards north. But that was fine with me!

I also noticed some overgrown wooded areas with some invasive species, a large swath of land that could probably be cleaned and thinned out better and enjoyed even more by Riverwalk visitors.

After going across the bridge and looking out over the creek, where another greenway trail goes east, I climbed back in my car and drove a little south. For the first time, I realized the Riverwalk trail continued not too far from Amnicola Highway here amongst the industrial sites. I had always assumed it went along the river the whole way.

And there are a few treats other than metal-sided buildings of recent years with zero architectural appeal to see, even away from the river. One is the old abandoned Central Soya/ADM plant toward the river, which has an eerily appealing ghost town look to it. Some brush and trees between it and the Riverwalk have recently been cut, giving a better view of it several hundred yards west.

I then pulled in the industrial park entrance, went off to the right and parked in the area leading up to the marshland/wetland. While you can see the pond from Amnicola Highway, on this side you can walk up to the shore and see it more easily and effortlessly than trying to quickly glance over while participating in the Amnicola 500 at 50 miles an hour.

I could see a few ducks and maybe geese, and they seemed to be as content as retirees on vacation.

Also here is a shelter, perhaps to aid a jogger or biker or walker during a dangerous thunderstorm or very hot weather. It is about the only such place of safety for a few hundred yards on either side, so it is strategically placed.

As I was leaving this area after getting back in my car, I could not help but notice the one or two possibly empty industrial park lots next to the Riverwalk and started thinking they would make a great addition to the system, if they are not already part of it.

I then climbed back in my car and drove a short distance south to the Curtain Pole trailhead. Like with several other stops, I had never been here before.

I got out of my car and was re-energized again not only by hearing on the radio an old Sugar Hill Gang song, “Apache,” that would make even a shy couch potato want to dance, but I found a little grass along the trail going south where a small mound was.

As we know by now, grass is my friend, although I do have to always watch out for holes.

While looking down, I could also not help but notice what was to my side, too. Primarily, it was a small water inlet that I had also not seen before, as well as the sights of the Chattanooga Golf and Country Club that were quite familiar to me as a former employee in my younger years.

But I had never seen the club from this angle.

I continued south a short distance and noticed on my left a wooded fenced area that seemed to have had an old dirt road heading to the river and back. The story regarding this site’s past would be interesting to hear, but I started thinking how nice it would be if this could be part of the future of the Riverwalk as well.

A few feet south, the Riverwalk becomes simply a concrete path – sometimes elevated – all the way to the Manker Patten Tennis Club. Its blue fencing was tracing the way and virtually no grass on the sides could be found, making me decide to turn back – but not before enjoying the views toward downtown Chattanooga.

And right where it becomes linear, an interesting mid-20th century, one-story office building is also on the left. It must be part of the Kenco complex.

And there in that same area was my long-lost friend Pluto, or at least a sign marking how relatively far the planet is from the sun and many of the other planets back in the area of the Hubert Fry Pavilion at the Tennessee Riverpark.

The back of the Chattanooga Food Bank is also visible just a few feet north.

Once back in my car, and after having taken advantage once again of the numerous public restroom facilities along the way, I decided to go back north and stop next at my old familiar friend, the Tennessee Riverpark.  

This is the place where I have gone jogging, often with my walking wife, Laura, and my trotting dog, Maisie, since moving back to Chattanooga in 2017. I like several aspects of it, not the least of which is the nice circular lawn surrounded by some older trees on the southside of the giant pavilion.

While I will nickname that slightly sloping and well-manicured area the great lawn of the Tennessee Riverwalk, I will call the giant field on the other side, which might have been part of the old Jaycee Fairgrounds, the great plain.

Visible from the north side of the C.B. Robinson Bridge, it is one of the neatest spots on the Tennessee Riverwalk – especially where the path and trees along the Tennessee River are. It is nature’s equivalent of a psychiatrist trying to make you feel better.

Back on the south side of the great lawn is the new memorial for the servicemen killed in the unfortunate July 16, 2015, terrorism-related killing a few feet away and off Lee Highway. A nicely done sculpture that looks a little like Stonehenge topped with a holiday wreath, it was built on what was an area of trees and wild growth.

I could never picture where exactly it was going to be built by the various news reports until I saw it for the first time in person a few weeks ago after it had been installed and dedicated.

Amid the general tranquility that the Riverpark as a whole is intended to emit, a more solemn peace is likely to be experienced here, particularly during military-related events and anniversaries.

Although I did not go there Saturday, on the north side of the large field, across the interesting wooden bridge, is a part that borders Chattanooga State Community College and the STEM School of Chattanooga.

While the view of the river is neat and you get the feeling you are on an extra-long back porch, the back sides of Chattanooga State are not overly inspiring here. Of course, it is like trying to put a walking trail in a back alley – the views in all directions are not going to be great.

However, just beyond that, in the final stretch of the Riverwalk near Chickamauga Dam – where I drove in my car – the Riverwalk and Chattanooga State seem to exist more harmoniously, as prettier sides of the 1960s and ‘70s era buildings are linked with the path via some nice grass.

In fact, the arrangement seems to be so good that there are some picnic tables with grills here, and some students or faculty could theoretically do a little grilling while chilling between classes on nice days. After all, who needs to wait until the weekend!

I also like the small circular area surrounded by trees here. It is like a baby lawn.

When I visited this area late last summer on a warm day for the first time, I thoroughly enjoyed the shade from the trees and the nice view of the river.

And just a few yards north – past another restroom building and pavilion – are such interesting sites as the overpass of the old railroad bridge, Chickamauga Dam and its large gates, and all kinds of metal electric power towers.

It is enough to give you an emotional charge as well, especially after thinking of all the sights between there and downtown that are commonly linear on a map, but much more diverse in visual offerings on a personal visit than I realized.

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To see the first story in this series, read here.

https://www.chattanoogan.com/2020/1/7/402048/John-Shearer-Exploring-And-Searching.aspx

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Jcshearer2@comcast.net