Read an Excerpt
Ijams Nature Center Loop
Scenery: 3 stars
Trail Condition: 4 stars
Children: 4 stars
Difficulty: 2 stars
Solitude: 1 star
GPS TRAILHEAD COORDINATES: N35° 57.335 ' W83° 52.096'
DISTANCE & CONFIGURATION: 3-mile double loop with spurs
HIKING TIME: 1.8 hours
HIGHLIGHTS: Environmental education, river views, history
ELEVATION: 835 feet at low point to 1,160 feet at high point
ACCESS: No fees, permits, or passes required; open dawn to dusk
MAPS: Ijams Nature Center Trails, USGS Shooks Gap
FACILITIES: Restrooms, water fountain at Ijams Visitor Center
WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: Yes, on nearby Universal Trail
COMMENTS: Other nature trails are available.
CONTACTS: Knoxville Parks and Recreation–Ijams Nature Center, 2915 Island Home Ave., Knoxville, TN 37920; (865) 215-4311; ci.knoxville.tn.us/parks
Overview
This hike uses a series of trails to make a pair of loops at Ijams. Leave the worth-a-visit visitor center and raptor enclosure and bisect wooded hills to reach Mead’s Quarry. Here, you circle around the lake left over after marble mining operations ceased. The circuit makes a big climb above the quarry, reaching a pair of overlooks. It then heads toward the Tennessee River, making a side trip to Toll Creek, then explores a bluff-side boardwalk over the river. See Maude Moore’s Cave; pass by a wildflower-rich hillside near Otter Island, then climb back to the nature center.
Route Details
Now in its fifth decade, Ijams Nature Center continues to be a popular destination for Knoxville residents. Originally the home and property of Alice Ijams in the early 1900s, the grounds were opened to the public in 1965 by the city of Knoxville. Through the years the park has expanded in size, environmental education opportunities, and trail mileage. Today, the nature center utilizes 160 acres to display and protect this urban green space. On this hike you will cover most of the park grounds. On return visits, you can make hiking loops of your own, altering routes to accommodate your companions. The spring wildflowers are one reason to visit, but any time of year you will find something worth seeing.
Facing the visitor center with your back to a nearby pavilion, head right, easterly, to pass under a covered trailhead. Walk left a few feet, then turn right on South Cove Trail, a mulched path. Shortly, pass the Tower Trail on your left, then the Beech Trail on your right, while hiking beneath a second-growth hardwood forest. Descend to reach the wide River Trail at 0.3 miles. Turn right here, toward Mead’s Quarry, briefly joining the Will Skelton Greenway, also detailed in this guidebook (see page 46).
Travel south on the asphalt greenway for a short distance, then turn right to carefully cross Island Home Avenue, entering the Mead’s Quarry site. This area was mined for pink marble, used in buildings throughout the United States, from the 1890s to the 1970s. Water naturally filled the quarry after it was dug out, leaving an attractive lake backed by tall granite bluffs.
This hike picks up Tharpe Trace, curving around the right side of the lake. Briefly follow an old road, then veer right onto a dirt path, climbing to reach Stanton Cemetery. Note the marked and unmarked graves, with some of the tombstones hand-inscribed. Many of those interred actually worked at Mead’s Quarry.
Less energetic hikers may skip this loop, but for a beautiful vista, continue climbing beyond the cemetery to an overlook at 0.8 miles. Look down on the blue water and scan the surrounding hills and homes beyond the nature center. Reach a high point of 1,160 feet at 1 mile. You just climbed 330 feet from Island Home Avenue.
The downgrade eases at 1.2 miles, where another overlook allows a long view of the lake below. Look for old brick, cut block, and cables—all relics from when this quarry was in operation. Pass a spur trail to a circular structure that is painted to resemble a bird. Proceed to a flat area known as the Interpretive Plaza and reach a trail junction at 1.4 miles. An alluring lake overlook and picnic shelter stand to the right, but this hike goes left, southwesterly on Pink Marble Trace.
Shortly, you’ll reach 25-acre Mead’s Quarry Lake. Stay left, heading for Mead’s Quarry Cave, which features a stream flowing into Mead’s Quarry Lake. Stairs and a boardwalk allow you to peer inside the home of endangered cave species such as bats and salamanders. Pink Marble Trace travels along the water, passing aquatic access paths. This part of the hike demonstrates how to turn an eyesore into an eye pleaser. What once was an abandoned quarry is now the centerpiece of a trail network. Leave the quarry site and return to Island Home Avenue at 1.9 miles.
The Will Skelton Greenway, just across the road, takes you back to the River Trail. Keep northeasterly on the River Trail and make a four-way junction at 2.1 miles. Take the Toll Creek Loop as it drops to a boardwalk, crossing Toll Creek twice. The urban stream has its beauty—and garbage, strewn by litterbugs and then washed into the creek. Now take the River Trail to the Tennessee River, passing a stairway leading up to an interesting geological formation—folded rock strata with the layers easily visible. At 2.5 miles, join my favorite highlight: a bluff boardwalk overhanging the Tennessee River. Take it to work your way around the steep bluff. River views are extensive. Peer into Maude Moore’s Cave, with its two entrances now barred.
Curve away from the Tennessee, passing a spur to a boat dock, where boaters can access the nature center. Come near Otter Island, then reach a trail junction at 2.8 miles. Stay left with the North Cove Trail, ascending on a wildflower-covered hill. Come behind the nature center and then complete your loop at 3 miles.
Nearby Attractions
Other hiking opportunities branch out from the Ijams trailhead. From the Ijams entrance, the Will Skelton Greenway extends westerly 1.2 miles to Island Home Park.
Directions
From the intersection of Cumberland Avenue and Gay Street in downtown Knoxville, drive south over the Tennessee River on the Gay Street Bridge to reach a traffic light. Keep forward at the light, now on Sevier Avenue. Travel Sevier Avenue for 0.6 miles, then stay left on Island Home Avenue as Sevier Avenue curves right over railroad tracks. Stay on Island Home Avenue for 2 miles to reach Ijams Nature Center on your left.
