Justin Whaley, left, and his business partner Wade Batson are proposing a state-of-the-art firing range on Bakewell Mountain in north Hamilton County. “We are going to build a clubhouse with pro shop and make it like a park,” Whaley said. “We’ll have an outdoor pavilion for people to gather, like a family atmosphere,” he said.A battle is brewing in Hamilton County’s Wild West.
Geographically, it’s in the hills northwest of Soddy-Daisy close to the Bakewell community. Philosophically, it strikes at Chattanooga’s outdoor identity – a location near a developing state park that some think could become a little brother to the Appalachian Trail.
Justin Whaley and his company, Dead Zero Shooting, are proposing a state-of-the-art shooting range complex on 184 acres along Retro Hughes Road. Whaley plans to buy the land, pending approval of a permit to operate a firing range there.
“We want to have a good, high-quality place that’s family-friendly, family oriented and safe, where people can come and shoot,” Whaley said.
The location is controversial, however, because the Possum Creek Gorge section of the Cumberland Trail is less than a mile away, and because area land owners are opposed to a firing range moving in.