Trail Rider Magazine

The Haley Road access is best for riders who are experienced with the area. On a side note the Haley Road access is an old Federal Highway but the locals call that one Tojo Road a er a famous figh ng rooster named for the evil Japanese General Hideki Tojo. Tojo basically made Hitler seem like a nice person. Parking for the primary access is available at the le of the main road in by the Ranger house. It will be obvious. There are a few other parking places as you venture down the main road. Registra on is not required and access is free. I recommend taking a peek at the rules on the way in. They should be fairly self explanatory items like wearing a helmet (required for kids), no booze and a 25 mph speed limit. The speed limit sounds daun ng but it is not. Basically just use common sense. On the good trails you don't want to be going much faster than that since you are sharing the trail and the traffic is not one way. Make sure you are out by dark. There are two primary roads in the park with Tower Road being the main artery. Tower Road is a long fire road and can be driven in a car. The trails are a series of loops that build to the right and le of Tower Road. There are a few worthy trails between the loops I am describing but I am s cking to the high points. About 1/3 of the way in you will see a gate on the right and living quarters for the Rangers. That is Haley Road. It is the other primary road. It leads down through Mullens Creek Canyon and ul - mately off the mountain. It is 4x4 only. More on Haley Road (aka Tojo) later. My favorite ini al routes off Tower Road are to start with the first big trail on the le immediately a er the second parking lot. The difficulty builds slowly but you will start to find some nice small jumps created by erosion turn offs. You can do several nice loops in this sec on but I mostly like s cking to the hard le . You will find a really nice overlook about 4 miles in that looks down into Cha anooga. If you run back out that road and keep le , you can link loops all the way to the cemetery toward the middle of the property. At that point you will be forced onto Tower Road for a while. If the first road on the le is open, take it. If not, take the next one on the le . They both end up at Snooper's Rock. It is well worth the stop at the end and 40 yard walk to look down into the Tennessee River Gorge. A er returning to Tower Road to con nue, take the next available le . There are several loops you can make back in this sec on. If it is early Spring and Late Fall the overlooks are amazing here. This sec- on has a few nice small climbs and more rolling jumps. You will ul mately want to end up back on Tower Road a er the last loop. Keep running south for a good ways. This me take the first right onto Dry Branch Road. This is some of the best riding in the park. Stay right and enjoy the nice rolling jumps, rocky climbs and stream crossings. This sec on rates solid intermediate. You can do a few loops in this sec on. Staying le will ul mately deposit you at Bluff View. This is a must stop for the photo opp. The mountain directly across the gorge is Aetna. Aetna is an advanced to extreme run. You can bet there will be folks up there doing the right thing. I like to either make some loops in the Dry Branch area or just high tail it down Tower Road back to the cemetery. (Note, Dry Branch gets closed a good bit if it has been raining. If it is closed take the next available right) Back at the cemetery you can take the road on the le (It is called Persimmon Road) and make a nice series of loops back to the sta on. This is slightly more advanced sec on than the loops on the immediately opposite side of Tower Road. This sec on is ghter and has more stream crossings. If you take the last le

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