Savana Keeton, Executive Director
The Cumberland Trails Conference has named Savana Keeton as its executive director. She will lead the CTC in its mission to complete the 300-mile-long Cumberland Trail, which when complete will have over 45 miles of hiking trail in Hamilton County.
Ms. Keeton is a seasoned trail builder who worked on the CTC crew beginning in 2016 while also completing a BS in Wildlife and Fisheries Science at Tennessee Tech. During her time on the trail crew she helped to carve out over 50 miles of the Cumberland Trail footpath. In January 2022 she took on the role of CTC office assistant; that role expanded to operations coordinator later in the year. Her intimate understanding of the many components of building a hiking trail make her ideally equipped to excel in her new role.
“I look forward to this new venture and to the opportunity to continue raising awareness of the CTC and the trail we’re building. Community engagement is key to success in bringing the Cumberland Trail to completion,” Ms. Keeton stated.
The Cumberland Trail is a recreational asset that will connect Hamilton County and ten other counties to form Tennessee’s Cumberland Trail State Scenic Trail, the state’s first linear state park. Volunteers from the Chattanooga area have been important contributors to the work of building the footpath. Volunteer events take place monthly and community members are encouraged to participate. Contact Savana Keeton at 931-456-6259, email Savana at savana@cumberlandtrail.org, or visit the Cumberland Trails Conference Facebook page.
Wildflowers & Wonders is an evening to celebrate CTC’s work building, maintaining, and educating folks up and down the Cumberland Trail corridor. Art will be available for auction which will benefit CTC and funding efforts in the construction of the Cumberland Trail. We are excited to see everyone at this inaugural event and look forward to growing it each year!
Cumberland Trails Conference would like to thank the Tennessee Trails Association for its financial support through the Evan Means Grant.
This grant was used to purchase tools for our volunteer events for 2022.
Here is a link to the TTA website if you would like to know more about the organization.
Our November Volunteer Event was a huge success! Over the course of two days 17 volunteers pulled 865 feet of duff. We are grateful for volunteers who come out and sacrifice their time all in the name of completing the Cumberland Trail. Thanks to you all!
Huge shoutout Bob Richards of Bob’s Trails, Trees & Gardens! Meal sponsor for our November Volunteer Event. And a big thanks to Brie Stewart for preparing breakfast and lunch for both days!
On November 15th, the Rhea County Commission voted to allocate $10,000 to the Cumberland Trails Conference to help finish the Rhea County portion of the Cumberland Trail. We are so grateful to receive these funds and are excited about building trail in Rhea County!