Outdoor Tennessee

First published in 1992, Cherokee National Forest Hiking Guide has been a vital companion to thousands who have explored the 650,000-acre Cherokee National Forest. Now in its third edition the guide has been expanded once again to cover numerous additional trails and the almost 20,000 acres of additional congressionally designated Wilderness in the decades since the second edition. Stretching across the Tennessee-North Carolina state line, the Cherokee National Forest includes much of the western slopes of the southern Appalachian Mountains, north and south of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The area encompasses a tremendous diversity of wildlife, vegetation, and scenic vistas of high mountain peaks and beautiful creeks, waterfalls, and valleys. Over 840 trail miles and 226 trails are described and mapped in the book. These trails and footpaths wind throughout this wildlife haven, inviting everyone who loves the outdoors-hikers, backpackers, hunters, anglers, and horseback riders-to explore the forest's natural beauty. The Cherokee National Forest Hiking Guide provides maps and specific directions for all the forest's current trails along with a wealth of general information on its present and past wildlife, vegetation, and geology, as well as a history of the forest's human inhabitants-including the political battles that have been waged to protect it. This book remains the definitive guide to this expansive and alluring landscape sure to thrill outdoor enthusiasts for many generations to come.

In sixteen thoroughly engaging essays, naturalist Stephen Lyn Bales ventures far and wide among the richly diverse flora and fauna of his native Tennessee Valley. Whether describing the nocturnal habits of the elusive whip-poor-will, the pivotal role the hedge plant Osage orange played in a key Civil War battle, or the political firestorm that attended the discovery of a tiny fish dubbed the snail darter, Bales illuminates in surprising ways the complicated and often vexed relationships between humans and their neighbors in the natural world. Accompanied by the author's striking line drawings, each chapter in Natural Histories showcases a particular animal or plant and each narrative begins or ends in, or passes through the Tennessee Valley. Along the way, historical episodes both familiar and obscure-the de Soto explorations, the saga of the Lost State of Franklin, the devastation of the Trail of Tears, and the planting of a "Moon Tree" at Sycamore Shoals in Elizabethton-are brought vividly to life. Bales also highlights the work of present-day environmentalists and scientists such as the dedicated staffers of the Tennessee-based American Eagle Foundation, whose efforts have helped save the endangered raptors and reintroduce them to the wild. Arranged according to the seasonal cycles of the valley, Bales's essays reveal the balance that nature has achieved over millions of years, contrasting it with the messier business of human endeavor, especially the desire to turn nature into a commodity, something to be subdued and harvested. Filled with delightful twists and turns, Natural Histories is also a book brimming with important lessons for us all.

Spanning Tennessee from the Great Smoky Mountains to the Mississippi River, Interstate 40 is more than just a convenient roadway. It afford travelers the opportunity to observe the state's geologic and physiographic features in all their variety. In this accessible and profusely illustrated book, Harry Moore offers a fascinating guided tour of that roadside geology.

From Ridgetops to Riverbottoms takes the reader on a journey down the many winding roads of the outdoor experience in Tennessee. Such a journey requires a seasoned guide, and there can be no better one than journalist Sam Venable, who has written about the woods and waters of his native state for the past twenty-five years. For Venable, the outdoor world is meant to be enjoyed. Whether he is casting popping bugs to bluegills during the frenzy of a willow fly hatch, lying motionless on his back in muddy corn stubble as mallards warily circle his decoys, savoring the sounds and scents of a moonlit summer night when smallmouth bass are on the prowl, or issuing plaintive love calls to an amorous wild turkey gobbler, the author's fascination with outdoor recreation never diminishes. And, as the reader quickly finds, this fascination is contagious. Along with the lightheartedness and rich humor in these pages, there is an unmistakable love of the land and a deep concern for the endangered bond between nature and humankind. Like the trout in the stream or the deer in the forest, Venable suggests, we are as much a product of the land as any living creature. And what affects one-for better or worse-ultimately affects all.