Friends of Haw Ridge Park

3/27/18 The Friends of Haw Ridge is dissolving into Clinch Valley Trail Alliance CVTA

The Friends of Haw Ridge Park is a citizen-created nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization established in November, 2000 to

In 2018, FoHR replaced by Clinch Valley Trail Alliance CVTA.

Available on-line are:

Most of the maintenace of trails is done by volunteers. This includes clearing downed trees, keeping water off the trails, weedeating, building bridges, benches, and re-routing trails. Recent projects completed by volunteers and the Friends of Haw Ridge with financial assistance from the City of Oak Ridge and your dues include Red Shore bog bridge, Rachel's Landing adjustment, West Shore bridge, Middle Road bridges, Silo bog bridge and up-and-over bridge. Earlier projects built many of the other bridges at Pond, Low Gap, Easy, East Ridge, and East Shore. In 2013, volunteers constructed the challenging Washing Machine trail. In 2003, with the help of IMBA trail school we did a re-route of the northern sections of Rainbow. Other minor re-routes include Roller Coaster, East Shore, and Silo. Over the last 25 years, trail development includes East Shore, Silo, V, K-2, East Edge, South Shore, Isthmus/Pond, West Shore, Low Gap/Ridge, Red Shore, and Soccer. In 2013, a crowd-funded project constructed the Washing Machine downhill -- berms, bridges, and log runs, see the facebook page.

Projects under consideration for the Park include:

Projects of the Friends of Haw Ridge Park are funded by membership dues, sales of 2008 bumper stickers and t-shirts (see our FaceBook page for current promotional items), and by promotional events. Funds are used for maps, signs, materials for bridges, trail tools, equipment rental, and other trail maintenance activities. The City of Oak Ridge (Parks & Recreation) has provided matching funds for the kiosk, entrance bridge and gravel, and for power-line excavator work. In 2006 thru 2011, the City helped with our weed-eating labor by mowing the power-line and Lake Road (Thanks Jon!). Labor and other tools are provided by volunteers like you!

Friends of Haw Ridge Park is charitable organization (501 (c) (3)) so your donations are tax free. If you would like more information or would like to join or help the Friends of Haw Ridge, please contact Friends of Haw Ridge or Clinch Valley Trail Alliance CVTA.

Haw Ridge Park

Haw Ridge Park is an Oak Ridge City Park under the jurisdiction of the Parks and Recreation Office. The 780-acre Park lies on the shore of Melton Hill Lake in the southeast corner of the City across from the Bull Run Steam Plant. The park is a wilderness area covered by hardwoods (oak, poplar, hickory, beech) and some cedar, pines, and hemlock (commone TN trees). A cedar barrens is located along the West point trail. The forest floor supports more than forty varieties of wild flower, including one endangered plant. (see Kris Light's Haw Ridge wildflowers or wildflower brochure. The Park/ridge gets its name from the haw bush and/or black haw. The Park is populated by deer, raccoon, skunk, beaver, and fox, as well as blue heron, osprey, ducks, hawk, owl, egrets, cormorants, coots, swans, turkey and the usual assortment of East Tennessee birds. The rare tree goat has also been photographed in the park. The geology is shale and limestone. The land was donated to the City by TVA in 1972, for recreational use only. TVA still has a right-of-way through the Park for mowing under its numerous power lines. In 1987, the Park was closed to motorized vehicles. In 1993, the northeast corner of the Park was shredded by a tornado. In September, 2012, the Park was closed to horses.

The Park has over 28 miles of wooded dirt trails and is used by hikers, trail runners, canoers (5 miles of shoreline), mountain bikers, and nordic skiers. The park is also a popular orienteering and geocaching destination. (From trail construction cost estimates of about $3/ft, this represents a $400,000 resource!) Parking is available at the west end of the park, and trail heads are at the west end and along Old Edgemoor Road (see the Haw Ridge mountain biking page for maps and trail information). Volunteers perform trail maintenance and marking. The Park is closed for deer hunting two weekends in November and one weekend in December each year.

Maintenance request and projects
If you find a problem (downed tree, erosion, etc) in the Park, please fill out this form. This page also describes areas needing work. We need your help! Thanks.

Developments and Events

Upcoming Events in 2024:

Past events:

Current Oak Ridge weather and recent hourly data

Related information


Haw Ridge Park mountain bike and hiking maps and trail info
Haw Ridge Park Canoe Trail and Pellissippi blueway
Geology of Haw Ridge Park
East Tennessee mountain bike trails
Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks office and Oak Ridge Visitor Bureau
Oak Ridge Greenways
Clinch Valley Trail Alliance (CVTA) trail work in Haw Ridge, BORCE, North Boundary
Tennessee matching grants TEA-21
Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning TCWP
NPS rivers, trails and conservation assistance program
The Trust for Public Land
Sierra Club
East Tennessee wildflowers
Appalachian Mountain Bike Club page and Matt Stegal's forum
Tennessee mountain biking alliance blog and links
North Chickamauga Creek Conservancy 501c3, greenways, events
other Friends of the Park Scott's Gulf or Montpelier or Canonsburg or Panther Creek and various state parks
Maps and GPS data for Tennessee landforms arches, waterfalls, balds, craters

Visit the Friends of Haw Ridge Park on Facebook or twitter or join the CVTA

3/27/18 The Friends of Haw Ridge is dissolving into Clinch Valley Trail Alliance CVTA
© Tom Dunigan TNlandforms.US
accesses since Jan 1, 2002