Wildflower fans will enjoy a guided, curated hike on Haw Ridge this Saturday, April 29, at 10 am. There will likely be sightings of inconspicuous orchid, Wister’s coralroot, and other spring wildflowers, a press release said.
“Some of these flowers are growing on a small cedar barren,” said botanist and hike leader Larry Pounds. “We’ll walk a loop of less than two miles. The trail is rough in places.†[Read more…]
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The Clinch Valley Trail Alliance opened the new Dirtlab mountain bike park on Friday.
The Friday celebration included a ribbon cutting and an expression of appreciation for volunteers who worked on the project. The mountain bike park and pump track was built over the past year with volunteer effort from the community, a press release said.
Brad Spears, president of the Clinch Valley Trail Alliance, said the community, city of Oak Ridge, and the backing of local businesses helped build the park as they stretched resources as far as possible after construction began in fall 2019.
“Every feature, the kiosk, the bench, the pavilion, the pump track…was built by a volunteer,†Spears said in the press release. The undulating pump track unveiled Friday complements the existing mountain bike park at the 780-acre Haw Ridge Park. The park is off Edgemoor Road along the Clinch River in east Oak Ridge and a short drive from Knoxville.
[Read more…]A missing 77-year-old man was found safe Tuesday night after a roughly 2.5-hour search by Oak Ridge and Anderson County authorities, and neighbors.
The man was reported missing just before 9 p.m. Tuesday in the Rivers Run neighborhood in east Oak Ridge.
The man’s family became concerned when he did not return home from his daily walk by dusk, the Oak Ridge Police Department said in a press release. They were unable to find the man during a search of his normal route to Haw Ridge Park, so they called the Oak Ridge Police Department for help.
A team from the Oak Ridge Police Department and Oak Ridge Fire Department responded to search the surrounding area, the press release said. Crews also called in a scent-tracking dog and handler from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department to aid in the search. [Read more…]
Braving single-digit wind chills, members of the Oak Ridge Track Club and friends prepare for an hour-long trail run at Haw Ridge to start off 2018 on New Year’s morning. (Submitted photo)
Braving single-digit wind chills, members of the Oak Ridge Track Club and friends had an hour-long trail run at Haw Ridge to start off 2018 on New Year’s morning.
H-frame or H tower transmission towers are pictured at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex off Scarboro Road on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was updated at 1 p.m.
The City of Oak Ridge this week provided information on what the power poles on Pine Ridge could look like.
The logging work to install the power line poles, or transmission towers, on top of Pine Ridge has been temporarily delayed for 45 days after Oak Ridge City Council members raised concerns in November and December.
One of the concerns for City Council members has been the potential visual impact the power poles could have on top of Pine Ridge. That prominent ridge in south Oak Ridge separates Y-12 from the center of the city.
So far, the National Nuclear Security Administration and its Uranium Processing Facility Project Office haven’t provided a visual representation of what the transmission towers could look like on top of the ridge.
On Tuesday, Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson and Electric Director Jack Suggs provided some visual comparisons to City Council members during a non-voting work session. Watson said a light pole at the city baseball field is about 80 feet. That’s close to the same size as the roughly 79-foot-high power poles expected on Pine Ridge. [Read more…]
Kris Light is pictured above on a fall wildflower walk. (Photo by UT Arboretum Society)
The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society will host a meet-and-greet followed by a fall wildflower walk at Haw Ridge Trails on Saturday, September 2. The event is scheduled from 9-11 a.m.
Kris Light, an expert naturalist, educator, and photographer will lead this fun, educational, and easy walk, a press release said. Participants may want to bring a camera to take pictures of the many wildflowers, the release said.
Describing the walk, Light said, “Most people think of springtime as wildflower season, but late summer and fall color the fields and roadsides in gold, purple and white. Come to the fall wildflower walk to learn more about the wildflowers of the fields.” [Read more…]
Emergency crews use a boat to rescue an injured mountain biker from Haw Ridge Park on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2016. (Submitted photo)
Emergency crews used a boat to rescue a mountain biker with a broken ankle in Haw Ridge Park on Sunday, authorities said.
The Oak Ridge Fire Department responded at 5:12 p.m. Sunday, October 16. Dispatchers had received a reported a man down on a Haw Ridge bike trail with a broken ankle.
The Oak Ridge 911 dispatchers were able to ping the caller’s cell phone and determine the approximate location of the accident, a press release said. They determined the biker was near the water on the southeast side of the trail.
Oak Ridge paramedics from Engine 3 and Rescue 1 began hiking to the incident while the rescue boat responded and was launched from Solway Park boat ramp. The ORFD boat located the patient within 25 minutes of the call, the press release said. [Read more…]
Haw Ridge Park and the North Boundary and Gallaher Bend greenways will be closed for hunts in the Oak Ridge Wildlife Management Area on several dates starting this weekend, the City of Oak Ridge said.  The closure on Haw Ridge includes the portion of Melton Lake Greenway through the park, from the lake to the parking lot on Edgemoor Road.
The hunts will take place on the following dates:
A Harvest Hike on Melton Lake Greenway on October 3 will feature a 4.2-mile “out and back” walk with optional trail hiking.
The hike is scheduled from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday, October 3 at Melton Lake Greenway, Phase 4.
The walk path has varied elevations and can accommodate bicycles and strollers.
The hike will start from the Haw Ridge parking area on Edgemoor Road promptly at 9 a.m., organizers said. The hike is sponsored by the City of Oak Ridge Wellness Committee and Oak Ridge Schools Coordinated Health.
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The Oak Ridge Fire Department used cell phone signals and a search crew in a boat to rescue three lost mountain bikers at Haw Ridge Park on Sunday night.
Note: This story was updated at 3:45 p.m. June 15.
The Oak Ridge Fire Department used cell phone signals and a search crew in a boat to rescue mountain bikers lost at Haw Ridge Park after dark on Sunday.
Dispatchers received a call that the three young men were lost at about 10 p.m. Sunday. Three firefighters launched a large rescue boat stored at East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site, by about 10:45 p.m. from a boat ramp at Solway Park, which is near Haw Ridge Park.
Oak Ridge Fire Chief Darryl Kerley said the three had stayed on the trails past sunset and became disoriented.
“Without flashlights, they were unable to find their way back to the parking lot, so they called 911 for assistance,” Kerley said. [Read more…]
Part of the Melton Lake Greenway is pictured above at the Haw Ridge Park parking lot.
Oak Ridge city and school officials will kick off Heart Health Month with a walk and hike at Haw Ridge Park on February 7.
Hike for Your Heart is a 4.2-mile walk with optional trail hiking included. It starts at 9 a.m. Saturday, February 7, and the public is invited. The walk and hike has been organized by the City of Oak Ridge Wellness Committee and Oak Ridge Coordinated School Health.
The walking path has varied elevations, a press release said. Walkers will leave the Haw Ridge parking area on Edgemoor Road promptly at 9 a.m. February 7. [Read more…]
