A land swap between the Chattanooga Audubon Society and Tennessee State Parks will complete another section of the Cumberland Trail, segments of which stretch across 11 Tennessee counties along the Cumberland Plateau.
“The land swap is going to provide more access to the Cumberland Trail for everybody in the county, in the region,” Chattanooga Audubon Society Executive Director Jim Stewart said Tuesday, while announcing the swap at Cumberland Trail State Park in Sale Creek. “I think everybody knows tourism is one of the biggest businesses in Hamilton County, and people come here for the outdoors.”
When complete, the Cumberland Trail will extend for 300 miles from Signal Mountain up the Cumberland Gap, Bill Avant, senior real property manager for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, said Tuesday at the announcement.
About 260 miles of the trail are complete and open for use, and the remaining 40 miles will be constructed once the land necessary to connect the existing segments is acquired by the state, he said.
(READ MORE: Cumberland Trail State Park now almost 300 miles with acquisition in Rhea County)