The Scenic City is a great place to explore outdoors. Chattanooga has many hiking trails, mountain biking spots, lakes, rivers and streams to enjoy via kayak, canoe, or boat.
There are also plenty of places to try your skills at rock-climbing. But what if you’re not sure how or where to get started, or lack the knowledge and skills to take the first step?
The folks at Outdoor Chattanooga can steer you in the right direction offering workshops and guided activities – most of which are free of charge!
“Our mission is to spark a contagious love of the outdoors through adventure and action sports, nature exploration, and community partnerships,” Director of Outdoor Chattanooga, Gale Loveland Barille said. “We want you to enjoy that time outside.”
Barille joined the team at Outdoor Chattanooga about two years ago, bringing a wealth of recreational experience to the organization.
Outdoor Chattanooga is a division of the city’s department of parks and outdoors. It was created by former Tennessee Senator and former Chattanooga Mayor Robert Corker 20 years ago.
Barille said the organization works to ensure that everyone has access to the outdoors. She said they often reach out to the community to gather input, they use to help design programs and infrastructure for the public.
“It means reaching out to new populations, making it economically accessible, and being very thoughtful in how we design our programs and our parks so that people of all abilities can participate,” she said.
Outdoor Chattanooga offers a variety of learning programs. Barille said most programs are suited for children as well as adults and seniors.
Participants can learn how to ride a bike, learn to skateboard, or take hiking lessons to learn the basics or improve intermediate skills. They have a program that teaches archery, something Barille said is a growing trend and offered at their Coolidge Park office and at Greenway Farm.
“It is wildly popular,” Barille said. “Most of the folks who come are at entry level, although we do have some folks that come, and this is their time to practice and are really serious about it.”
Their newest archery program is designed for senior citizens.
There are programs to teach participants how to rock-climb. Outdoor Chattanooga offers two levels of Introduction to Mountain Biking courses too.
They have a program called Paddle Smart Chattanooga. It is an introduction to flatwater paddling course for boats, kayaks, canoes, and paddleboarders.
The organization, in partnership with Park and Outdoors Therapeutic Recreation division, also offers an adaptive cycling program which provides individuals with disabilities and their family members and friends the ability to cycle along the beautiful Tennessee River.
“We have an explorer series where we partner with one of our local nature or historical partners and we combine outdoor recreation with them,” Barille said. “Like a walk with the Tennessee Aquarium or a history kayak tour with the National Park Service.”
Outdoor Chattanooga hosts meetups. Each meetup has a different theme, with the goal of connecting people around a particular outdoor activity in the area. These themes can range from biking to climbing to paddling and beyond, providing a space for people to come together and make connections.
“We want people to meet up and find each other and find out more about the resources and all the different places they can go,” Barille said. “Our one goal is that people had such a great experience…that they like the outdoors and they tell someone else about it. That is our success factor. It’s that simple. You had a good time, and you told someone else about it.”
Outdoor Chattanooga is also involved in helping the city attain the designation of National Park City. This is a designation from an international nonprofit given to municipalities that demonstrates a commitment to improving city life for residents and the nature that surrounds it.
To learn all about the various program and to register for an event visit: outdoorchattanooga.com