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It's one of life's most pleasurable, and relaxing pursuits.
Chickamauga Lake has an abundance of wildlife. Blue herons, kingfishers, turtles, songbirds, pileated woodpeckers, black racer snakes, brown-headed nuthatches, red-headed woodpeckers, great scaup, common loon, ringnecked duck, coots, grebes, sandpipers and plovers. For information, call (800) 262-6704
Nickajack Cave Refuge is home to 50,000 endangered female grey bats, cave salamanders, and small numbers of hibernating Indiana and eastern small-footed bats. Call (800) 262-6704. Directions: From I-24 west of Chattanooga, take exit 161. Turn north onto TN 156 and travel 5 miles to TVA Maple View Public Use Area.
Raccoon Mountain Pumped Storage Plant is home to Bald Eagles, sharp-shinned and red-tailed hawks, osprey and northern harrier. Whitetailed deer frequent the area. Call (800) TVA-LAND for more information. Directions: From I-24 West of Chattanooga, take 174. Travel 2.5 miles northwest on US routes 41N/64W/72W. Turn right at pumped storage plant sign.
Rock City Deer Park offers viewing of a unique species - White Fallow Deer - in its confines in addition to an abundance of unique flora and fauna unique. Call (706) 820-2531 for more information. Directions: Eastbound I-24, take exit 174. Westbound I-24, take exit 178 to Lookout Mountain ramp. Follow Rock City signs to TN Highway 58 up Lookout Mountain. Parking is free.
Reflection Riding/Chattanooga Nature Center features Great Blue, little blue and green-back herons, great egrets, white-tailed deer, raccoons, red wolves, coyotes, fox, flying squirrels. Call (423) 821-1160 for more information. Directions: From I-24 west of Chattanooga, take exit 175 and turn left. Turn left on Cummings Highway. Turn right on Old Wauhatchie Pike then immediately turn right onto Garden Road.
Signal Point Park rises 1,000 feet above the Tennessee River and hosts a view of 13 species which include broad winged and peregrine falcons. Call (423) 821-7786 for more information. Directions: Take U.S. Highway 27 in north Chattanooga, follow US 127 north to Signal Mountain. Turn left onto Signal Mountain Boulevard, follow signs.
Watts Bar Lake features 783 miles of shoreline and provides the largest inland nesting population of ospreys in the Southeast. Directions: From US 70 in Kingston, take TN 58 South 3.6 miles to River Road. Turn right, following River Road along east shore of the lake.
The Brainerd Levee offers refuge and viewing of the Great blue, little blue and green-backed herons, great egrets, blue-winged teal, willow flycatchers, grasshopper sparrows, beaver, muskrat, and the snail darter which is a federal listed fish. Call (423) 757-4963 for more information. Directions: Take I-75 north to exit 4, Highway 153. Go north to Shallowford Road exit. Turn left, travel two miles to intersection of Shallowford and North Moore Road.
Audubon Acres, listed on the National Register of Historical Places, is the home of the Native American naturalist Spring Frog, excellent observation of migratory birds, raccoon, muskrat, gray fox, and woodchuck. Call (423) 892-1499. Directions: Take I-75 to East Brainerd Road exit 3A. Go east, then right onto Gunbarrel Road. Turn right on Sanctuary Road.
Maclellan Island is located in the middle of the Tennessee river in downtown Chattanooga. This 18-acre island is owned by the Chattanooga Audubon Society. The Great Blue Heron rookery on the Island can be observed from the Veteran's Bridge, Hunter Art Museum and Coolidge Park. The Chattanooga Ducks and the Southern Belle boat operations offer outstanding viewing opportunities.Call (423) 892-1499 for more information.
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