Finding a Hike
Lists of the best hikes are helpful, but they can lead you to trails that are far away, crowded, and not suited to young kids. Furthermore, what even is the best trail to kids?
We bet you’ve had the experience on a family trip to someplace special only for your kiddo to be captivated by the stairs near the entrance—or, you bought a pricey gift only for the cardboard box to be the best part.
There’s something similar when it comes to finding a hike: Which hike is the best can be really hard to predict in advance!
Still, we think you can set yourself up for success: We picked the hikes that are in the sweet spot for parents of younger children: not too far away, not so challenging as to be discouraging to kids and their parents; near amenities; and scenic and rewarding to accomplish.
Let’s start with where these hikes are located.
Where the hikes are
All of the hikes are near Knoxville—from just a few minutes to within an hour or two drive (but no longer). Following our focus on hiking with younger children, most of the hikes are within an hour’s drive of Knoxville.
They are in three regions:
- In and around Knoxville: Hikes within the Knoxville city limits to those within a 30-minute drive.
- The Cumberland Plateau: An often under-appreciated but fantastic region of rock outcroppings and wild rivers to the West and North of Knoxville. The hikes in this region are from around one to two hours from Knoxville, with most being close to one hour.
- The Great Smoky Mountains National Park: The most-visited and the most biodiverse national park—right in Knoxville’s backyard. These are mostly around an hour from Knoxville, though a few are closer to two hours.
Choosing where to hike
Some trails are short, flat, and on a paved surface. Others are longer, steeper, or rockier. How do you find which one is best for you?
This book has three sections, one each for hikes in and around Knoxville, on the Cumberland Plateau, and in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Within each section, we organized each hike loosely along the lines of those we’d recommend first.
Thus, the first few hikes in each section are what we think of as “sure bets.” Get the weather right, pack a bunch of snacks, and we think you’ll likely have a good time. We also created a list of Top 5 Hikes that can help with choosing where to hike first.
For example, Seven Islands in Knoxville is a reliable choice, with paved paths, beautiful views, and plenty of spots for kids to explore. Indeed, if you haven’t hiked there yet and the weather is good, we recommend you stop reading now and head out!
Each chapter has a lot of information you can use to choose your hike—particularly information in the Overview and Key Characteristics sections. You can those for inspiration. All of the key characteristics are also provided in a table in the Overview section for easy review. We go into more depth on these and other considerations for your first hike in the next section.