Cumberland Trail
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TTA/CTC's Guide to the
Cumberland Trail |
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Experience Tennessee hiking and backpacking at its best! The Cumberland Trail (CT),
a Tennessee State Scenic Hiking Trail, became Tennessee's 53rd state park in 1998. The Justin P. Wilson Cumberland Trail State Park will contain a core corridor of 300-plus miles of trail beginning in the Cumberland Gap National Park (Ky) and stretching south to Chickamauga Chattanooga National Military Park and Prentice Cooper Wildlife Management Area just outside Chattanooga. In addition to providing multiple recreational opportunities, this protected greenway will act as a buffer to protect water quality and provide natural habitat for animals.
The Cumberland Trail as a center for recreational activities and conservation on the Cumberland Plateau, will also be a provider and source of environmental education of both the young and the old in the Southeast on our natural world and conservation inherent to a stable planet. |
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SAVE THE CUMBERLAND TRAIL FROM DESTRUCTION
This is 2008, not 1968. This is happening NOW on your, the taxpayer's, precious Cumberland Trail just north of Chattanooga - within the Cumberland Trail State Park. Furthermore, these “rock miners” can just leave after they've stripped and destroyed the publically owned lands, with no Federal or Tennessee laws forcing them to reclaim the land.
It is just not right. And we, the voters; the taxpayers; the real owners of the public lands; must stand up to the unregulated rock mining coorporations that are destroying our beautiful trail and stealing our heritage; stripping the public lands on the Cumberland Plateau; destroying it one monsterous truckload at a time.
Please follow this Rock Mining Alert and Action Plan Link
to read about how unregulated rock mining coorporations are able to do this in Tennessee. Also read about how you can help by contacting your Tennessee State representative and senator.
For the latest news and blogs on the status of Cumberland Trail rock mining, see TTA/CTC Rock Mining News.
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ABOUT US:
Maps and Trail Descriptions:
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As a non-profit Associate Organization organized under
Tennessee Trails Association (TTA), the Cumberland Trail Conference (CTC) assists by organizing volunteers and supporters to help build, maintain, and provide activities on the Cumberland Trail. This includes trail maintenance and building outings, trail-building training sessions, and periodic hikes on the CT. All programs, backpack and maintenance outings, hikes, and workdays are volunteer activities and are open to the public. TTA/CTC provides the required training, safety equipment, and tools. Except for a few special programs, there is no charge. The TTA/CTC places a high priority on interlacing earth and conservation education within the trailbuilding program format, and in a learning format that provides an enjoyable and rewarding experience for the students and volunteers.
The Cumberland Trail Conference is offering seasonal employment as a trail builder from May 16 - June 27, 2008. The position pays $220/week (gross). The workweek will be 5 days, 8 hours per day, with 2 days a week off. Food and housing will be provided by the CTC. Pay week is Monday thru Sunday.
The work location is in the northern corridor of the Cumberland Trail in the Smoky Mountain Segment near Caryville, TN. Trail work is to be in the Sundquist Wildlife Management Area of Scott County, Tennessee. Transportation from the base camp to the work site will be provided. The base camp is located at the Stony Fork Community Center, Caryville, Tennessee.
If you are interested in this employment opportunity, please contact the CTC office for more information and an application.
The Cumberland Trail is designed and built to minimize the potential environmental impact on sensitive wildlife habitat, unique aquatic or terrestrial habitats, or endangered/threatened species. The Cumberland Trail's environmentally conscious footprint on the land provides the hiker with picturesque waterfalls, scenic overlooks, and a wilderness experience rare in the eastern US.
TTA/CTC is principally a volunteer organization. Volunteers are the life-blood of the Cumberland Trail. We could not construct and maintain the trail without the help of these dedicated individuals. Trail-building volunteers enjoy the teamwork and social aspects of trail construction. They enjoy meeting new people who share the same enthusiam for healthy physical activity and the outdoors. They enjoy the sense of accomplishment that comes from hiking back to camp or the trailhead at the end of the day along trail that they have just constructed.
Rock/Creek Supports the CT
On April 3rd, Rock/Creek presented the Cumberland Trail Conference with a check for $1500. The Chattanooga-based outdoor retailer raised the money at the March 29 Rock Creek River Gorge Trail Race. Now in its seventh year, the race was well attended as about 300 athletes showed up despite torrential rains before the race. This nonprofit organization is dedicated to building and maintaining over 300 miles of trails on the Cumberland Plateau. Anthony Hook, General Manager of the Cumberland Trail Conference, shares his gratitude: "This race hosted by Rock/Creek helps support the Cumberland Trail Conference and demonstrates the various recreational pursuits that the Cumberland Trail offers. Races such as the Rock Creek River Gorge Trail Race provide the challenge that trail runners seek and increases awareness of the Cumberland Trail. This money will be used to support our trail building and maintenance programs in Hamilton and Rhea counties. The CTC appreciates Rock/Creek's continuous support and generosity."
Appropriately, the race takes place on the Cumberland Trail, in Prentice Cooper Wildlife Management Area. The two distance options, 10.2 mile and 6.5 mile, both used parts of the challenging Mullens Cove Loop. Prentice Cooper is located in Marion County, on top of Suck Creek Mountain, overlooking the Tennessee River Gorge.
Thunderstorms and heavy rain greeted about 300 athletes on Saturday morning, making this one of the largest and certainly the wettest turnouts in the history of the race. "Having a successful turnout like this, despite the rain, made for a fantastic start to the spring trail running season," states race director, Jamie Sanders. "We are excited to see how continued growth of this sport encourages people to come out, rain or shine, every year."
Rock/Creek co-owner and president, Dawson Wheeler, from Signal Mountain, TN, expresses his gratitude to the sponsors and volunteers: "Without serious financial and time commitments from our sponsors and volunteers, we never could have raised this much money or had such a successful race." Mr. Wheeler also highlighted the importance of environmental stewardship: "Rock/Creek believes in the work of the Cumberland Trail Conference. By supporting what they do, we hope to encourage others to do their part as well. The future of the activities we love depends on protecting our natural resources through the volunteer work we do now as well as our financial commitments to conservation organizations."
Photo is Mark McKnight and Amanda Leamon.
Also in support of the CT, Rock/Creek will be a sponsor of the Scenic City Trail Marathon and 1/2 Marathon on May 24th. There is an exciting new course for this year! Amanda Leamon, CTC's Trail Development Coordinator, will be running the 1/2 Marathon. For more information and to register online, see
Rock/Creek's Scenic City Trail Marathon & 1/2 Marathon webpage.
The CTC is thankful for the continued support of Rock/Creek. Their much needed donations assist with the construction and maintenance of the Cumberland Trail. The CTC looks forward to working with them and our many other supporters in building and maintaining the Cumberland Trail.
Please check the ACTIVITIES PAGE on this website to see how you can join us. Watch this website for current information on open and under-construction segments, future trail work days, and how you can help make the CT happen.
Rock/Creek Raises $1500 for Trail Work
Hosts over 300 Trail Running Enthusiasts on the Cumberland Trail
Tennessee Trails Association
P.O. Box 41446
Nashville, TN 37204-1446
1-888-HIKE-TTA (1-888-445-3882)
WEBMASTER - Barry Spearman, Trail Volunteer and Volunteer Webmaster since 1996
Unregulated rock mining is taking your trail away, one monsterous truckload at a time. You, the hiker, must dodge the huge boulders and 100-year-old stately oaks that they push down the steep slopes onto the trail, risking serious injury or even death to hike public lands. Unregulated rock miners don't care about your trail, or you. Their monsterous machines don't care. They just care about the money they can make stripping the land away, forever destroying the land and the Cumberland Trail.
