We will be walking some recently completed trails in Sharps Ridge Veterans Memorial Park. These new trails show off some of the best forestland in Knox County with many large trees, and a great diversity of understory plants. Fall colors should be putting on a show with vibrantly colored sourwood, black gum and maple trees. After a short walk down the road, we will start on the south slope with a short downhill on the Sharp Shin and Push Line trails to get to the Lincoln Trail. We will take the new section of the Lincoln trail to the north side of Sharps Ridge where we will connect to the Independence trail that will take us back to our starting point. This part of the hike on the new section of the Lincoln Trail and the Independence trail are entirely uphill. However, since they are adaptive mountain bike trails the grade is very gradual – 200ft elevation gain spread over nearly 3 miles.

Hike: about 4 miles, rated easy. Meet at the Independence Trail trailhead, 121 Sharps Ridge Memorial Drive (near the West Picnic Shelter), 2:00pm.

Pre-registration with the leader is required. Masks are now required for all those participating in carpools, shuttles or key swaps, regardless of vaccination status. You may also choose to drive your own vehicle to the trailhead.

Leader: Mac Post, mpost3116@aol.com, 865-806-0980