Sports & Recreation (36)
Ocoee Whitewater Center destroyed in huge fire
U.S. Forest Service
WKRN: Building a total loss after overnight fire
Investigators are on the site of Polk County’s Ocoee Whitewater Center after it burned down in the early morning hours of April 26. No injuries were reported, and the building was closed to the public because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Forest Service website. Several trails in the area were closed as authorities, including state arson investigators, probed the cause of the massive fire.
The center featured native stone and massive beams and overlooked the Class V rapids of the section of river used for whitewater events during the 1996 Olympics.
Ijams Nature Center honors deep roots with expansion dedication
Written by Cindy Hassil
Martha, Elizabeth, Mary, and Josephine Ijams (from left) are seen in this 1923 photo. The girls were active in scouting and became accomplished naturalists early in life. Ijams Nature Center
Help give thanks across history to founders of the South Knoxville nature center and celebrate the addition of 3 acres
Cindy Hassil is a writer for Ijams Nature Center.
KNOXVILLE When H.P. and Alice Ijams purchased 20 acres of land along the Tennessee River in 1910, they couldn’t have known their family would still be contributing to the legacy that would become the 318-acre nonprofit Ijams Nature Center more than a century later.
Ijams Nature Center will celebrate the contributions of the Ijams family and dedicate three acres of land recently donated to the nature center by H.P. and Alice’s granddaughter, Martha Kern, at 10 a.m. Thursday, April 28. The public is invited.
Updated: It’s your Earth Day week! You should connect with your mother.
Written by Thomas Fraser
The horizon over Argentina is seen in this image taken from the International Space Station. NASA
Earth Day is every day, but it’s officially on Friday, April 22 this year. Get involved.
The 2022 observance of Earth Day is officially Friday, April 22, but the Knoxville area plans celebrations, work parties and seminars in honor of the 50-year-old annual recognition of Mother Nature through Saturday. Here’s a quick look at some local ways to love your mama. This list will be updated.
TWRA to establish prime trout fishing opportunities at Big Soddy Creek Gulf
Written by TWRAGet put together well: Ijams Nature Center hosts sustainable fashion show
Written by Cindy Hassil
The Fleurish fashion show will feature sustainable and stylish clothes to reduce your big old footprint on Earth. Courtesy Fleurish/Ijams Nature Center
Help rock the catwalk at Ijams’ display of sustainable clothing
Cindy Hassil is a writer for Ijams Nature Center.
KNOXVILLE — Clothes can be a burden to both bear and wear. Ijams Nature Center offers fashionable alternatives with sustainability cred this month.
Ijams and Natural Alternatives Salon and Spa will present Fleurish: A Sustainable Fashion Event, from 6 to 9 p.m. Sunday, April 24.
“Fleurish is a runway show focused on how sustainability, conservation and beauty intertwine and affect our lives … and our future,” Fleurish Creative Director Ben Prager said. “This event engages the audience in ways that will help the average consumer make changes in their day-to-day lives to better impact the planet while never losing sight of the beauty of nature and the human experience.”
Twelve local designers, along with hair stylists and makeup artists, are coming together to create looks using both recycled and natural materials.
It’s Sirius: Light pollution blots out the night sky but pockets of true darkness remain
Written by Rick Vaughan
The Southeast is seen at night from the International Space Station. NASA
Dark Sky parks, including some in East Tennessee, offer true views of heaven
“Look up at the sky. There is a light, a beauty up there, that no shadow can touch.” J. R. R. Tolkien
WARTBURG — Those who came before us read the night sky like we read maps today.
In ancient times, pointing to the stars, they imagined creatures, mythological heroes and common every-day objects. Because of their fixed positions, the constellations became a foolproof way to navigate across vast, featureless deserts and expansive seas. The stars marked the changing seasons and the passage of time. The star patterns were memorized and taught to each new generation.
- light pollution
- obed river
- pickett state park
- dark sky park
- dark sky
- astronomy in southeast
- what is light pollution
- sky meadow
- tennessee state park
- stargazing in tennessee
- appalachian dark sky
- where is best place to see stars near knoxville?
- rick vaughan
- see the milky way
- constellation
- southeast at night
- why can't i see stars in the city
- international dark sky park
- bortle scale
$30m comes home to roost for Foothills Parkway rehab project
Written by Thomas Fraser
A view of the Smokies from the southern section of Foothills Parkway. Thomas Fraser/Hellbender Press
Hellbender told ya so: Big money in hand for southern Foothills Parkway rehab
Hellbender Press reported some particulars months ago, but the National Park Service today announced the official receipt of $30 million dollars for rehabilitation of the southern section of Foothills Parkway between Calderwood and Walland.
It’s been a busy news week out of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, especially related to the Foothills Parkway: Earlier this week the park service announced the latest phase of comment on plans to establish a series of mountain bike trails in Wears Cove at the terminus of that parkway section. Hellbender covered that, too.
Maybe too much Smokies, if that’s a thing, but we felt obligated to report via a park press release the final dispersal of funds for the planned improvements we reported on months ago. Significant traffic closures will likely begin this spring.
National Park Service pedals toward construction of mountain-bike trails and concessions in Wears Cove
Written by Thomas Fraser
National Park Service via WBIR
Feds and boosters have considered trail network since completion of the “Missing Link”
WEARS VALLEY The National Park Service moved this week into the latest public-input phase regarding proposed construction of a Smokies-area mountain-biking destination on federal land near the current terminus of a recently completed section of Foothills Parkway that runs from Walland to Wears Valley.
The plan calls for miles of single-track mountain bike trails of varying skill levels and vendors catering to bicyclists. Park service documents indicate a rest station with picnic facilities, bathrooms and bicycle rental and repair facilities sited in Wears Cove southeast of the parkway terminus at Wears Cove. The parcel is already part of a federal easement for another extension of the parkway that would connect with the Gatlinburg Spur.
“The Wears Valley portion of the Foothills Parkway could provide visitors new opportunities to experience the Park through mountain biking because it is within the Park’s general development zone and transportation management zone and is not managed as wilderness,” according to park service documents.
- wears valley mountain biking proposal
- foothills parkway
- foothills parkway extension
- walland to wears valley foothills parkway
- environmental assessment
- nepa national environmental policy act
- mountain bike park
- karst
- public comment
- public input
- decision making
- mountain bike trail
- planning
- trail system