Jeffrey Schaarschmidt

A path overgrown with vines leads up to the top of Stringer’s Ridge. Logs litter the trail.

But Rick Wood, executive director of the Trust for Public Land, can envision something far grander than what’s there now.

“There are trails all over this property,” he said. “There’s views all over the top of this property.”

The trust is in the midst of acquiring the 92-acre piece of property that overlooks downtown Chattanooga. The site is historic — Civil War cannons once shelled the city from there — and it offers hardwood trees lining the ridge and panoramic views of downtown, he said.

The trust plans to secure 92 acres by a Jan. 9 deadline to purchase the property from current owner Jimmy Hudson, Mr. Wood said. The total cost of buying and developing the property will be $2.5 million, he said. The trust currently has $1.9 million, he said. But if they can not secure all the funding, the group may have to sell four or five acres of the land, he said.

Once the trust grabs the property, there already are plans forming between the trust and several local nonprofit organizations on what Stringer’s Ridge will become, he said.

“This is not going to be a manicured park,” Mr. Wood said. “We see it very much as a natural urban forest.”

Mr. Wood said he has been speaking with the Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association and the Wilderness Trail Runners Association, or Boonies. Both groups have expressed interest in cleaning up the trails and maintaining them once the property comes under control of the trust, he said.

Jeffrey Schaarschmidt, advocacy director for the bicycle group, said members are “100 percent” behind the trust getting control of the property because there is a system of trails on the ridge that riders can use. The trail system needs some manicuring, he said, and some of the trails don’t exactly match the needs of mountain bike riders, but that’s easily solvable.

Ultimately, the group envisions about seven miles of bike trails on the ridge, he said. As for sharing the trails with runners, he said he did not see any difficulties.

“We’re all up there to enjoy nature,” he said.

Randy Whorton, president of the Wilderness Trail Runners Association, said the groups have started a “single-track alliance” based on the fact that many trails in the area are shared between hikers, bikers and trail runners. He said he could envision a system of trails along the ridge where both bikers and runners could share walkways, while other trails could be individualized for the two groups’ needs.

“I think it’s going to come out well,” he said. “It has to. This is an opportunity to have wilderness right in our downtown.”

Larry Zehnder, the city’s Parks and Recreation administrator, said Stringer’s Ridge offers a prime opportunity because it could offer hiking opportunities to visitors staying in downtown Chattanooga.

“In this case, they could easily take an afternoon walking along the ridge,” he said.

Mr. Wood said focus meetings will be scheduled after the trust acquires the ridge property. With so many groups envisioning their own ideas, getting the ridge right will require planning, he said.

“This will be something everyone can enjoy,” Mr. Wood said.