While using the Blueway is easy, building, maintaining and growing the 50-mile water trail in the decade since it was created has been anything but simple. “Are you kidding me?” asked Philip Grymes of Outdoor Chattanooga, after rattling off a list of agencies, politicians and nonprofits involved. “That anything got done is incredible.”
What started as little more than an interesting idea more than 10 years ago has become a nationally recognized recreation corridor that is now flowing down its feeder creeks and could soon jump its banks into new territory.
“That vision is starting to play out now,” says Jeff Duncan, whom many credit as “the brains behind the Blueway.” “The Tennessee River Blueway is a much bigger idea than just Chattanooga and the section through the Tennessee River Gorge. Hopefully in the next 10 years you’ll be able to paddle from above Knoxville or maybe even Asheville, N.C., all the way to the river’s confluence with the Ohio.”
A Blue-what?
Simply put, blueways are designated water trails, usually designed for paddlers to camp along the waterway.