Norris dam and state park

Norris dam and state park

	Norris dam and state park
Location:	Tennessee
Nearest Town:	Knoxville/Clinton
Directions to Trailhead:	75North of Knoxville.Approximately 12 miles.Take Big ridge state park exit,go right off of interstate.go past rocky top market or stop and ask them where the entrance is to Norris dam.Off of the interstate it is 2 miles on the left,just past appalachian museum on left.
Trail Description:	Logging roads,single track,lake views,downhills and lots of climbs.some of the trail names Highpoint,longmire,red hill,lake loop,white pine,racoon run,freeway and many more with many miles.obey your norba trail rules please
Trail Length:	30+ miles
Trail Type:	Singletrack & Fire Roads
Skill Level:	Advanced
Submitted By:	Greg L

Adam from New York, New York Date: June 18, 2003 Trail Ridden: Ridden Once
Recommended Route: Other recommended trails in the same area: For a great quad and aerobic workout, keep it out of granny gear and climb the hills of Norris!
Review: Norris consists of mostly fire/gravel road. Many of the reviews comment on the lack of technical single track. They fail to mention, however, what an excellent work-out Norris' long, steep uphills offer. Part of Mountain biking involves climbing steep, challenging hills. If you are not in very good shape than Norris is not the place for you. If you are looking for advanced single track Norris is also not the place for you.	Overall Rating:

Sam from Knoxville Date: September 17, 2002 Trail Ridden: Once a month
Recommended Route: Park across from the museum and ride up past Grist Mill on the gravel rd. From there, choose your destiny. Other recommended trails in the same area: Lone Mountain, Buffalo Mountain - blue trail (Johnson City, TN)
Review: You like being in a nice "mountain town" setting, getting great exercise, and riding up alot, then down alot, check it out. Not much single track--just a place to get away from the concrete and get a solid workout. There are plenty of routes to choose from, depending on your mood. Smooth gravel roads/trails infiltrate the entire system if you're feeling slobbish, but you want somewhat technical singletrack, take one of the turns off of the gravel and have at it. Racoon Run and the lake loop aren't too shabby. I usually just go out there and try to get lost, but for the directionally impaired, pick up a free map @ the museum. Keep pedalin'. Peace.	Overall Rating:

Jane from Oak Ridge, TN Date: July 23, 2002 Trail Ridden: Once a week
Recommended Route: All the routes. Fire road for beginners. Get a free trail map at the Museum. Other recommended trails in the same area: Haw Ridge, Lone Mountain
Review: The most wonderful thing about Norris trails is that you can ride it after the rain. Water drains really well. It rains so often in east TN, Norris is ridable hours after the rain (it is impossible for Haw Ridge). If you want to go easy, take the fire roads uphill and use the single track going down. The fire roads are wide, but they can be hairy, too. Lake loop takes you down to the lake. Have a dip in a hot day before you climb up again. Nice view along the lake loop in autumn. Summmer time: Do NOT sit on any logs other wise you will find 40 chigger bites on your bottom the next morning!	Overall Rating:

Texas pete from texas Date: May 8, 2001 Trail Ridden: Once a week
Recommended Route: Hot fire Raven could you not find the trails? Other recommended trails in the same area:
Review: Whats wrong Raven could you not get it up?Did ya have to push?	Overall Rating:

raven linville from hiskell,tn,usa Date: May 7, 2001 Trail Ridden: Ridden Once
Recommended Route: ??? Other recommended trails in the same area:
Review: ???	Overall Rating:

from Norris Date: April 8, 2001 Trail Ridden: Once a week
Recommended Route: So many places to start.. For those of you that are old and lazy, drive right up to the green water tower or the parking lot near the gristmil, and start from there. For the younger and more energetic riders, start in Norris. Find your own way there. =) Other recommended trails in the same area: Norris Elmenty playground, fun riding. =)
Review: Being a yonger riders, with very limited income and lazy parents, my friends and I have been riding in the Norris watershed area for a while now because it is less than a few miles away. There is also so much to offer right there, with its almost endless supply of trails. People come from all over, those knoxville riders with the neopreme shoe covers, the oak ridgers that glow in the dark, the thrify norris riders, and even the rednecks show up after a good rain. The old and young alike enjoy the watershed, truly a place for everyone. They all know the trails, so if your new to the area stop and talk to them, they can show you the best places to ride. As for those of you that hate up-hills, you'll take one look at this place and hate it, but when you reach the top, you'll realize how much you love it. If you see three muddy teenagers, pounding up the hills, or fly'n back down them, say hi.	Overall Rating:

Matrix from Knoxville, TN Date: April 2, 2001 Trail Ridden: Once a week
Recommended Route: I give it 4 stars only because no tecnical steep trail & they allow hunting of cute furry animals & close trails for it!!!! Other recommended trails in the same area: Haw ridge ...I.C King{read reviews for tips} ......
Review: Never any problems riding there...great for all types of riders except >{Freeriding}"nothing really challenging at all Need a trail straight down with drops & technical stuff!!!lot's of XC riders wearing lycra showing off their ASSets..I never did like that feel or look!!& the horse people/good ol boys in 4x4's laugh at lycra shorts!! buy some FOX baggies..Lycra is COOL on gals though...Lakeside loop is cool trail...	Overall Rating:

Steve from knoxville Date: March 12, 2001 Trail Ridden: Once a week
Recommended Route: Any which way you can. Other recommended trails in the same area: LoL
Review: Chris from Alcoa ,how can you like technical and then to complain about riding up a hill,well in your case pushing.If you can't ride Norris how can you begin to ride technical,fast singal track like Haw Ridge you listed.You are one of these people that ride very little and critize alot.You obviously did not ride very many miles or you would had enjoyed yourself more.As for your map.....who needs one.	Overall Rating:

Chris from Alcoa Date: March 11, 2001 Trail Ridden: Ridden Once
Recommended Route: I wish I knew. Other recommended trails in the same area: Haw Ridge
Review: The scenery at Norris is beautiful and the trails are well maintained but that's about it. This place isn't much fun unless, of course, you enjoy climbing long, steep hills. If you do, you will be rewarded for your efforts. The downhills are fast, especially coming from the top of Highpoint back to the water tower. (That was fun, but watch for cars!) There are some other good runs such as Racoon and Red Hill but you must pay the price to get there. The best singletrack we found was the lakeside trail which weaves down by the lake - twisting through the woods. It's a great trail, but your excitement quickly diminishes once you reach the end and see the climb back out. It's about 3/4 mile up a steep, rutted hill. Almost all of the trails are double track jeep or fire roads. Nothing technical here. Some of these roads are gravel. Since you share them with cars, watch for dust storms. It's really bad (don't wear contact lenses). The only signs you will see are on the main roads. Everything else is unmarked making you stop and look at your map way too often. What a time killer! Personally, I prefer single tracks that are somewhat technical and fast. Readers should take that into consideration when looking at my ratings for this trail. Norris is perfect place to ride horses, which probably explains why we saw more of horses than mountain bikers the day we visited. Bottom line: bikes are made to be ridden - not pushed. There are many other great trails in East Tennessee. I would suggest trying one of them.	Overall Rating:

TRENT from MARYVILLE Date: March 10, 2001 Trail Ridden: Please Select
Recommended Route: I-75 TO NORRIS EXIT - FOLLOW THE SIGNS TO THE DAMN. PARK AT THE WATER TOWER BACK IN OFF THE ROAD Other recommended trails in the same area: HAWS RIDGE, I.C.KING
Review: I am a single track kind of rider. I was very disappointed in the whole ride. A lot of strenuous long climbs. A lot of reviews said that it was all single track. Where? We rode the one that went down to the lake and back up, that was a fun single track -- the only one!!!!!!! ALL THE REST WERE DOUBLE WIDE FIRE TRAILS THAT WERE POORLY MARKED. THE RIDE OFF THE TOP OF THE MOUNTIAN WAS THE BEST.	Overall Rating:

Steve from Woodstock, GA Date: October 23, 2000 Trail Ridden: Ridden Once
Recommended Route: Coming from I75, park in the lot on the left across from the museum. Bike on the road about half a mile back (past the waterfall) and look for the trailhead on the left. It's by a mile marker, and it's hard to see. Lots of people go the other way (across the bridge) from the parking lot. It's much more heavily traveled, but it's much less technical I'm told. Other recommended trails in the same area: Ya'll come down to north Georgia and check out Bear Creek in Ellijay, GA or Bull Mountain in Dahlonega.
Review: This is sweet! All singletrack with a great cardio grind up, up, up and then bomb back out as fast as you dare. There are 2 singletrack runs (Eagle Trail and something else) that connect but don't loop. Lots of big rocks and big roots to keep you honest, and some of the toughest DH switchbacks you've ever seen. Better know when they're coming up or be prepared to eat some tree. 2 spots for getting some big air. At the top, it opens up to fire road, but we didn't have the time to explore further. Like Arnold said, "I'll be Bach." The drawbacks were (1) a huge leaf fall this week really hid some serious singletrack hazards, and (2) hunting season closes a bunch of the place down from 9/23 to 10/15 and again from late November to late December.	Overall Rating:

GREG L. from KNOXVILLE,TN. Date: July 8, 2000 Trail Ridden: Once a week
Recommended Route: If you know the trails well enough,you can enter from several different areas.And find alot more singletrack then the previous Reviewer found.You must look harder my son. Other recommended trails in the same area: Haw Ridge,Waldens Ridge,Lone Mountain,Helen,Ga.,Pisgah,Fontana village,Did i mention Norris?
Review: Same as above.	Overall Rating:

Tony Keys from Morristown, TN Date: July 6, 2000 Trail Ridden: Ridden Once
Recommended Route: Same as others Other recommended trails in the same area: Panther Creek State Park
Review: Wow, but there sure are alot of fire roads. The only real singletrack I found was on the lakeside trail, and on Raccoon run. Sure it was fun to blast down the fire roads and catch air on the whoops, but I guess that I am just too much of a singletrack junkie. The singletrack that is there is sweet, there just needs to be more of it in my opinion. Great trail for those of you that love to ride doubletrack and fire roads. I wouldn't make a special trip to go there or anything though.	Overall Rating:

Mike S from Knoxville ,TN Date: June 14, 2000 Trail Ridden: Once a week
Recommended Route: park across from museum/boat launch..Go down gravel rd through crossing/ then left at big blue water tower..Thats "high point" the trail head..better have a map after that, then it's easy.. Other recommended trails in the same area: Lakeside loop= takes you on a wild fast singletrack ride to lake-then climb out...
Review: Been riding here for 3 yrs.Sunday is packed sometimes"horses" vehicles,etc? Great for Single Gear bikes	Overall Rating:

toad from knoxville Date: March 19, 2000 Trail Ridden: Once a week
Recommended Route: new to trails - from water tower up highpoint down backside of highpoint to upper clear creek road (gravel road) to perimeter road back to upper clear creek up red hill by cemetary down raccon run back to high point to beginning (~14 miles), for the not so new - from parking lot by river below dam to trail to gazebo down reservoir hill back to gravel road to water tower up high point down backside of high point to lake loop back up to upper clear creek to perimeter to red hill by cemetary down racoon to white pine to down high point to ridgecrest or freeway (hold on!!) Other recommended trails in the same area: haw ridge, the king, walden, lone mtn
Review: my fav place to ride! lots of variety, fast, steep, hard climbs, technical, big air!!, single track on the norris city side, dbl track, rocks, roots, etc... can ride here all year long (half of it closes for deer season). can easily put in 25 - 30 miles in just a few hours.	Overall Rating:

Mark Gates from Powell, TN Date: October 11, 1999 Trail Ridden: Once a month
Recommended Route: (See http://www.cs.utk.edu/~dunigan/mtnbike/normap.gif for a map of the area) Starting from Lower Clear Creek road (next to the water tower), go up the highpoint road. You have several options at this point. You can either take Raccoon Run downhill for some freaky cool whoop-de-doos, then take Red Hill road down to Upper clear creek road and make a loop, which will eventually take you back to where you started (see the map). Or you could climb up to the top of the highpoint road and be rewarded with a long downhill run to upper clear creek, and from there take the mockingbird trail back to highpoint to make a loop. Other recommended trails in the same area: The closest trail that I can recommend is Haw Ridge, which is a over in Oak Ridge. Haven't ridden there, but my close friend has; he says it's wicked cool. I think they're gonna have a race there in November or something.
Review: Since I wrote my last review, I have been back to Norris about 4 times, and I'm trying to find all sorts of variations of trips you can take. I still love coming down raccoon run for that downhill rush (got up to 29 mph once, got air with both wheels), but the top half of highpoint has some excellent downhill as well, but it tends to be steeper in some places; be careful. I've run into a lot of people on the trails, all of them friendly and helpful. I haven't been out that much lately, mainly because of school and the fact that the watershed is closed for hunting for periods of time in the fall. (Once again, check out Tom Dunigan's excellent site for the closures http://www.cs.utk.edu/~dunigan/mtnbike/) Nevertheless, I'll try to be out on my bike in Norris again soon, if you see me and my big red Trek, say hi or something. If you need any more information, email me at Markos423@aol.com My rating remains at 5 stars.	Overall Rating:

Mark Gates from Powell, TN Date: August 7, 1999 Trail Ridden: Ridden Once
Recommended Route: Take highpoint road (starts at the water tower, go across the bridge), then turn onto raccoon run up to the red hill trail (go to http://www.cs.utk.edu/~dunigan/mtnbike/ for more info and maps) Other recommended trails in the same area:
Review: Very nice, well maintained trails; off of lower clear creek road you can park your car in the area next to the wood bridge. Nice wide rocky jeep trails, nice singletrack. The route I described above is essentially uphill all the way, but it more than makes up for it going downhill. Especially on the drainage whoop-de-doos on raccoon run; caught air every time! Pure bliss.	Overall Rating:

sam from norris tN Date: May 4, 1999 Trail Ridden: Once a week
Recommended Route: high point, and some of the trails coming down to the water tower (huge green bucket). then across the "bridge" and up. Other recommended trails in the same area: that one coming down from the united celluar tower. with all the 4x4's in it. and the one that paralells clear creek rd.
Review: high point is a great trail, for the beginiers and experts alike. Beginners get a nice wide trail that is well maintained and the better riders get some great training. It offers a good up hill and some better down hill. Raccoon run is also a good short singletrack. And if you like old people of folk music, every sunday the old ppl meat at the museum next to the grist mill and play music. and if you dont, then i sugest you try to avoid ridding on sunday.	Overall Rating:

Ronny Beasley from Memphis Tn Date: March 31, 1999 Trail Ridden: Ridden Once
Recommended Route: Same as above Other recommended trails in the same area: I would like info on the trail at Oakridge Tn, if anyone knows of it give me an e amil
Review: I had a great time riding here. It was a great change from the flatlands of Memphis. There are some great climbs and even better descents. The trail isn't very well marked though. I rode somewhere close to 25 to 30 miles and seemed to be lost as a ball in tall weeds Other than that I had a blast I will be back this summer several times and looking forward to it.	Overall Rating:

Jim from Knoxville, TN Date: March 30, 1999 Trail Ridden: Once a month
Recommended Route: take the fire-road beginning at the water tower up to the top...then ride any singletrack you can. Other recommended trails in the same area: Haw Ridge...refer to website above.
Review: Great trail as it combines fun climbing with varied degrees of downhill singletrack. The initial climb is about 2 miles and you gain a little over 600 feet. That is not a super-challenging climb but is a good workout and makes the singletracks that much better. From the top there are three singletracks from the top and all of them are fun. Be careful because 2 of them lead back down close to the beginning...I always take the shortest singletrack from the top and make the climb back up to finish with one of the longer 2 trails back to the bottom. Go to: http://www.cs.utk.edu/~dunigan/mtnbike/ for more info. on Norris and other trails in the same area. The site has: distances, rough maps, estimated times and elevation info. Great trail...not for people who hate climbing or who despise fireroads even for climbing.	Overall Rating: