SORBA Chattanooga

Heads up if you are riding at Walden’s, there is a tree down across the trail on Bullwinkle.

We’ve alerted Hamilton County Tennessee Parks & Recreation Department.

Thanks to Tanner O'Rear for the heads up. These reports make us aware of the issue and allow us to work with the land owner to fix the issue as quickly as possible.

SORBA Chattanooga February News + Events - https://mailchi.mp/sorbachattanooga/feb2024-15636481

Came across this gem of an article today from Tyler Clemmer: https://freehub.com/features/lookout

So much energy has gone into the mountain biking around Chattanooga in 20 years and we are excited for what the future holds.

We want to hear what you want the future of mountain biking to look like in Chattanooga. Join us at The Woodshop March 5th at 630 pm for our quarterly membership meeting and be heard.

On the Lookout | Chattanooga's Quest to Become a World-Class Riding Destination On the lower flanks of Chattanooga’s Raccoon Mountain, two ribbons run parallel—one of water, one of dirt. Local riders Les Warnock, Andrew Massey and Mark Przybysz would be enjoying sweeping views of the Tennessee River if they weren’t so focused on the trail.On the Lookout Chattanooga's Ques...

Exciting news! Walden’s Ridge Trails are open! Tell your friends! 🚴‍♀️🚴

We love to see Chattanooga used as an example of a place where mountain biking positively impacts the local economy!

And thanks to our partners also mentioned who help make Chattanooga a great place to ride: Lula Lake Land Trust, Outdoor Chattanooga, Chattanooga Parks and Outdoors, Hamilton County Tennessee Parks & Recreation Department, Lookout Mountain Conservancy

You can read the whole report from the Pennsylvania Environmental Council here:https://pecpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/PEC-MTB-Companion-Report-FINAL.pdf

You can also read the whole economic study that we did in conjunction with UTC here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qZU61biX0JTdxGXVP6kD4rwrQr16Fxw-/view

Little Bellas is looking for mentors. Who wants to help get more girls on bikes?

Join us to celebrate Women's International Day with a MTB ride at Lula Lake on March 9th.

As many of you know Lula Lake is only open a few days a month, with this event we are given an exclusive entree to enjoy the conservancy land, take on the incredible views and hike down to gorgeous waterfall.

You must register for the event https://www.eventbrite.com/e/international-womens-day-group-mountain-bike-ride-tickets-841504481557?aff=oddtdtcreator

Good morning y’all. Thanks for the multiple reports of the damage on Hill City at Stringer’s Ridge.

https://www.trailforks.com/report/3258514/

We have alerted Chattanooga Parks and Outdoors.

Until then, please use caution in this area as it sounds like there is extensive tread damage.

Feb 14, 2024 Hill City Trail Report Status: Minor Issue / Yellow --- Condition: Variable --- Two root balls have pull out the trail tread.

Free Saturday, February 24th? Want to have some fun in the woods?

We are partnering with Wild Trails to clear the trails at the new North Chickamauga Creek State Park on Signal Mountain in preparation for their upcoming race, the Flipper Bend race: https://wildtrails.org/flipper-bend-trail-race/

This work is also the first phase of preparing the trails to officially open to bikes. Yes that’s right, we are working with the ranger at the park to open the trails for mountain biking.

We will meet at the Stillhouse in the Flipper Bend community at 9am. https://maps.app.goo.gl/6iBMMxfirVWEQVQc6?g_st=ic

Things to bring:
Water
Closed toed shoes
Long pants
A desire to have some fun

See y’all on the 24th!

Flipper Bend Trail Race - Wild Trails - Chattanooga's trail protection nonprofit Flipper Bend 1/2 Marathon & 5 Mile Trail Race This race is a joint collaboration of Wild Trails, the North Chickamauga Creek Conservancy and Flipper Bend Community. All proceeds will […]

We love what White Oak Bicycle Co-op is doing for bike access around town!

Help spread the word please!

All Trails at Walden's Ridge Park are CLOSED due to current weather conditions. (02/12/24)

Trails will be monitored closely and will reopen as soon as conditions allow.

Help spread the word please!

2/12/24
Due to wet and muddy trail conditions-the mountain bike trails are closed.

You’ve asked for it…so we did it! Join us for two different fix-a-flat classes down at your friendly neighborhood bike co-op. We will have a women’s only class on Feb. 21 (trans, femme, non-binary, and those who identify as a woman welcome) and an all ages/all people fix-a-flat class on Feb. 28.

The moment we’ve all been waiting for!

After consulting with Hamilton County Tennessee Parks & Recreation Department officials this morning, Walden’s Ridge is back open.

Thanks for your patience and enjoy!

Please report any issues you may find on Trailforks.

Spent some time talking about safety today for Walden’s Ridge.

Accidents happen so please be prepared. Please ride with someone, especially if you are going big, in case something happens. Also know which trail you are on and about how far down you are. This will be important information when talking to a 911 dispatcher.

Huge thank you to Chattanooga Fire Department, Hamilton County Tennessee Parks & Recreation Department and Waldens Ridge Emergency Service for spending time today to talk about emergency plans.

Enterprise South Nature Park mountain bike trails have reopened for use! (02/01/24)

Ever wanted to get some wilderness medical training?

Here is your opportunity get your Wilderness First Responder through UTC.

See the below flyer for details and reach out to UTC directly.

Save the date! The popular Five Points 50 mountain bike race is back this year, and it will take place on June 22nd.

More details coming soon. To sign up for alerts, including when registration goes live, visit: eepurl.com/iI00_M or click the link in our bio.

Raccoon mountain trail update:

Live wire 1 is wet in the usual places but other than that is good to go.

Switchyard is soft in spots, mostly in the open spots by the switchyard, but good to go.

Small Intestine is good to go. There are a couple of trees down but they have been reported on Trailforks so hopefully one of our volunteer sawyers can get out there to cut them out.

A great reminder that without trails, and the organizations like SORBA Chattanooga that steward those trails, there would be no mountain biking.

Without Trails, We Don't Need Mountain Bikes So why isn't trail advocacy at the forefront of online media?

We know that many folks are chomping at the bit to get back on the dirt at Walden's Ridge. So are we. Unfortunately the dirt is not ready for tires yet. Please help us spread the word!

We were out there today and the dirt is still soft enough where we were leaving footprints on the trails.

While riding soft dirt is fine on some other trails around town, riding the soft dirt at Walden's causes damage to the berms and features that detracts from the fun and safety of the park. And it is expensive to fix.

We are working with Hamilton County Tennessee Parks & Recreation Department to get the park open as quickly as possible so please stay tuned here or at Trailforks for a change in status.

And yes we know that there aren't any signs at the park that tell you that it is closed. We are working on a solution for that as well because it looks like we've got some more rain coming this weekend.

Public service announcement

If you see any sort of colored tape strung across the trail, please stop and walk your bike. That tape is there to let you know that there are volunteer trail stewards ahead working on the trails with sharp tools.

We put that tape up for your safety as well as the safety of our volunteers.

Thank you!

Park Hours
7 am-5:30 pm

Atlas Bike Trail
Closes at 5:00 pm

Summit K***s
Closes at 4:30 pm

Visitor Center
Monday-Friday
8:00 am-4:00 pm

Please respect the closure and give Walden’s Ridge park more time to dry before riding there. Also, please help spread the word.

We walked every downhill trail today and the trails are really soft from the freezing temps and moisture over the past two weeks. Riding them now would cause damage that will take precious volunteer hours to fix.

We are working with Hamilton County Tennessee Parks & Recreation Department to re-open the park as soon as possible. Stay tuned here or on Trailforks.

The rest of the trails around town should be good to go later this week. As always, if you are leaving visible tracks, please consider another route or turning around to help minimize damage that will require volunteer time to fix.

Our volunteer sawyers cleared the last two trees that we know about at Raccoon so once this weather passes Raccoon should be good to go.

Have you seen any other trees down around town?

If so, please use Trailforks to report them or any other trail issues. Also, please add a picture and gps coordinates. These two pieces of info allow our volunteers to plot the most efficient route to the issue and know what gear to bring.

Want to get more involved in trail work around town?

Sign up for outer volunteer mailing list:

Volunteer Form Want to be kept updated on future volunteer opportunities? Without volunteers, our local trails fall into disrepair. Fortunately, your generous support of Chattanooga trail stewardship keeps the fun of mountain biking going. Complete the form below to be added to an email distribution list where we....

Well we’ve gone from below freezing temperatures to almost 70F today. We are definitely out of the freeze/thaw cycle, for now, but with all of this rain for the next few days the tails will be a mess. 😳

Please consider outside activities other than trail riding to allow the trails to dry out to minimize damage that require volunteer time to repair later. This may be early next week.

Also, Walden’s Ridge and Enterprise South Nature Park trails remain closed until Hamilton County Tennessee Parks & Recreation Department reopens them.

If you do need to get out on a bike, the Guild trail, Upper Truck trail, the Riverwalk and South Chick Greenway are great places to ride.

Another idea is a hike with a hand saw, to clear any smaller downed trees, and Trailforks, to report the bigger ones and other trail issues.

Another great option is to get any maintenance done on your bike that you’ve been putting off. I’m sure the folks at Suck Creek Cycle, Owen Cyclery or East Ridge Bicycles would be happy to help.

Thanks for helping to steward our amazing trails and for your support of SORBA Chattanooga! 🙏

As the trails thaw due to warmer weather and the coming rain, we’d like to ask folks to give the trails around town some time to dry out after the thaw and the rain before getting back at it.

Different trail systems will dry more quickly than others.

Ideally we’d wait through the weekend but if you do decide to get out there before that, please report conditions via Trailforks so we all know what it’s like out there.

We will also be watching Hamilton County Tennessee Parks & Recreation Department to see when they re-open Walden’s and Enterprise South Nature Park. We will update Trailforks when they re-open.

Thanks for your understanding!

Please help us spread the word to help protect these amazing trails.

Trailforks has been updated for both Enterprise South Nature Park and Walden’s. We will update statuses there as Hamilton County Tennessee Parks & Recreation Department changes their status.

We are also working with Hamilton county to install signs at Walden’s to better communicate status of the trails.

Thanks for your understanding and let’s hope for some warmer/drier weather so that we can all get back out there.

📢 Attention Walden's Ridge Community: Due to the forecast predicting adverse weather conditions, Walden's Ridge will remain closed for the safety of all guests. Please stay tuned for updates, and stay safe!

📢 Attention Walden's Ridge Community: Due to the forecast predicting adverse weather conditions, Walden's Ridge will remain closed for the safety of all guests. Please stay tuned for updates, and stay safe!

Just a reminder that Walden’s is still closed as per Hamilton County.

Expect them to remain closed probably through the week with the messy weather coming our way. 😔