River rocks, rides, rows

Grab your paddle, binoculars, mountain bike or chalk bag -- a new kind of festival is coming to town.

This fall, Chattanooga will introduce a 10-day outdoor recreation event series that planners hope will foster an appreciation for the city's lush natural resources and inspire efforts to protect them.

The RiverRocks festival will feature more than 40 events between Oct. 1-10, including live music and local farmers' markets as well as adrenaline-pumping races and activities scattered across the city and its nearby mountains and waterways.

The festival also heralds what the event's founder calls an "evolution" in how residents and tourists view Chattanooga, deemed the dirtiest U.S. city in 1969 and now a destination for outdoor enthusiasts nationwide.

"This is much bigger than a 10-day festival in October," said founder Mike McGauley. "It really is something that signals why this community is so special and why it is unique."

From scenic balloon rides, nature photography workshops and kids' kayaking relays to blistering trail runs, rock climbing competitions and a caving expedition, the celebration will highlight the Scenic City's unique combination of outdoor recreation -- from the mountains to the lakes to the river -- and city living, said Carla Pritchard, who heads Chattanooga Presents!, a new event-planning company that is coordinating the festival.

"This could not work anywhere but here. It is uniquely designed for this area," she said.

Money raised from the festival -- through corporate sponsorships and donations -- will go toward protecting the very resources that make the event possible, organizers said. A portion of the money brought in will benefit land trusts and conservancies such as the Trust for Public Land and the North Chickamauga Creek Conservancy.

Mr. McGauley said in the last five years in Chattanooga, an onslaught of media and advocacy attention on issues such as obesity and chemicals in processed food has helped fuel organic and local food movements and a drive to active lifestyles. Land conservation efforts also are gaining traction among some who previously didn't prioritize environmental advocacy, he said.

"It's an evolution, a transition. A lot of it is just being informed," he said. "This whole idea of embracing environmental stewardship and people taking that seriously, taking their health more seriously, that's really only occurred in the last five or six years in this community."

"COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE"

Five years from now, planners expect attendance at RiverRocks to reach 100,000 and hope the event will bring in more than $5 million to Chattanooga's local economy.

The city's natural resources are "our real competitive advantage. It's what differentiates our community in a lot of ways from many others," Mr. McGauley said.

Metro Chattanooga sits in the middle of about 60,000 acres of protected land laced with hiking, running and biking trails. Sandstone boulders and cliff lines make the city a destination for rock climbers for the sheer volume and diversity of quality rock within an hour's drive of downtown.

To the west of the city, the Tennessee River carves a 27-mile canyon through the Southern Cumberland Mountains, which rise up to 1,700-foot elevations on either side. Called the Tennessee River Gorge, it's one of the most biodiverse regions on the continent and the only river canyon next to a mid-sized city, said Jim Brown, executive director of the Tennessee River Gorge Trust.

The gorge also is home to more than 1,100 plant species and diverse wildlife, he said.

"Between the trees, and the flowers and the grasses, we're sitting on top of a sub-tropical jungle," he said. "Most of the people here simply still do not realize what a treasure we have."

Also under the RiverRocks umbrella is the annual 50-kilometer Stump Jump trail run, organized by the nonprofit Wilderness Trail Association, in partnership with Rock/Creek.

The race route weaves along the Cumberland Trail, providing sweeping views of the Tennessee River Gorge, said Jonathan Mobley, executive director of the Wilderness Trail Association.

"People would be amazed at some of the views and some of the cascading waterfalls and large rocks. It's incredible," he said. "You're downtown and you look up and you see mountains. But you don't really realize that if you actually go in there and hike, there's miles and miles of beautiful trail, more than meets the eye."

Although some of the festival's events will have participation fees, particularly for competitive events, most will be free of charge. Free events include group hikes, paddling sessions on the Tennessee River, the two-day Three Sisters Music Festival and a Saturday night "balloon glow," in which hot-air balloons will be illuminated at dusk in Coolidge Park.

Local climbing gyms the Tennessee Bouldering Authority and Urban Rocks, as well as the Walnut Street Wall, will offer free or discounted climbing during the festival.

"This is not one of those things where we put up barricades and sell tickets," Mr. McGauley said. "It's about getting families and everybody involved."

Organizers warn festivalgoers if they are craving cotton candy and funnel cakes, they'll be disappointed by the refreshments served. All food and drinks sold at RiverRocks will be grown locally or brewed from area growers such as Crabtree Farms and local breweries, Mr. McGauley said.

More than 1,500 farms lie within a 100-miles radius of Chattanooga, said Jeff Pfitzer, director of Gaining Ground, a grant-funded program of the Benwood Foundation that aims to support a sustainable local food economy in Chattanooga.

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