ATHENS, Tenn. – Austin Fesmire steers his city van across Highway 307, past a sign saying “no motor vehicles allowed” and onto the newly named Eureka Trail in McMinn County.
Fesmire, the director of parks for Athens, is proud of the whole trail that has been established on an abandoned rail corridor. But he stops the van a couple of miles in at one of his favorite spots, steps out and gazes out over a stream flowing parallel to the trail.
“Do you hear that,” he asks as the sound of trickling water rises from below. “Is that not worth the stress relief to walk out here and just hear that? It’s priceless.”
A contractor is laying down a tightly packed gravel surface this month, making it smoother for the walkers and bicyclists using the 4.9 mile trail that will eventually connect Athens to the neighboring town of Englewood.
It’s the latest step in a rail-to-trail conversion project years in the making, and it’s a regional example of a national phenomenon being studied for its feasibility in Hamilton County.