4-21-25, 10.7 mi., Solo
Concord
Park is one of those nearby places that doesn’t get a lot of attention. The
park is in Farragut, so friends like Mark, Ron, and Steven visit often, but
Jean and I do not. Mostly I’ve avoided it because of the huge volume of
commuter traffic entering and exiting Farragut. But I have discovered recently
that if I avoid rush hour it’s an easy 15-20 minute trip. Previously I had only
been on the older trails at Concord, now referred to as the “Dog Park” Area.
I’d been hearing
a lot of good things about the “new” trails at Concord and decided to give the
area another chance. 
Map of the original Concord Park Trails.
Concord
Park is now a string of four areas stretching west along Northshore Drive
through Farragut. The original Dog Park Area extends east along a golf course
and consists of three nested loops. On the same ridge to the west are the two
shorter loops of the second area. I am not sure how old these loops are, but
maps from 2002 & 2003 show both areas. (East TN Mtn Bike)
My
first visit to Concord was on the mountain bike in 2006 with Mark. I don’t know
our exact route through the East Area, but I remember some bumpy, overgrown
trail, and an epic faceplant into a patch of poison ivy. It looked like even
with good clearing and tread work, these would still be rougher trails than
most would prefer. I GPS’ed most of the area on a solo run in 2010, hiked and
took pictures there with Jean in 2011, and ran an oppressively hot KTC trail
race in 2012. My last two visits had been with Mark running loops in 2013.
Concord has a well-deserved reputation for poison ivy which helped keep me away.
Jean and I hiking at Concord in 2011.
Since
that time, much of the emphasis of local mountain biking shifted from
established areas like Concord, Haw Ridge, Norris, and IC King parks to the
Urban Wilderness in South Knoxville. In the final stages of trail building in
the Urban Wilderness, instead of the usual rough and tumble handmade single
tracks, smoother machine cut trails were built at Baker Creek. With this more
beginner friendly terrain, mountain biking really took off in places like Baker
Creek, Sharps Ridge, Loyston, and Concord.
During
this transition my biking really lagged, being limited to a few outings a year
near home with DK. But DK finally convinced me to buy a “modern” mountain bike
and to justify the purchase I started to ride more. Baker Creek was “in”, as
were Sharps and the newly rehabilitated trails at Haw Ridge. Looking around for
similar hero dirt, the other name that kept popping up was Concord. It helped
that both Mark and Ron run there regularly. I also wanted to keep up with my
goal of riding all the available singletrack around Knoxville.
Finally
ready to give it a shot I went to the “Dog Park” area first, assuming I could warm
up on familiar turf and access all the other trails from there. I tried the
Main Loop on the east side first, assuming it would be a good warm up loop. But
even the main loop had lots of junctions and few signs, so I spent as much time
map reading as I did riding. I remembered the outer loops as being even rockier,
so I skipped them.
Next
I went over to the west side and rode the West Loop counterclockwise. I did not
like that trail at all. It was rocky, rough, and brushy, the kind of trail you
might ride for practice, rather than enjoyment. I cut down to the lake on a
user trail, then went to the picnic area looking for the connector to the
bridge leading to the Calloway Ridge parking area where the new stuff would
begin. After one whiff, I tried again and snuck out on Northshore Road to
confirm that there was no bike connector. The one other rider I talked with
thought the Calloway Ridge riding was too rocky. I thought about bailing out,
but packed up my bike again, and drove Northshore west past the roundabout, and
U-turned to park in the Calloway lot.
Luckily
there was another rider in the Calloway lot, and even more luckily, he was friendly
and experienced. He offered to show me around enough to get started as there
are no maps, and incomplete signage on the new trails. Going west, Calloway is
the third link in the chain of parks. It has an easy green perimeter ride and a
blue trail over the top of the ridge. We did the easy trail, which was enough
to bring out the differences in our skill levels. He sought out all the trail
features while I would ride around each one.
Across
the fishing bridge we hit the Ballfield area, the fourth link in the chain.
Luckily, I had a GPS, because I was barely able to keep up without stopping to
read what few signs were there. As best I can tell, we started on Lago and also
rode Full Count, Knuckleball, and the Upper Deck Loop. These trails were what
I’d hoped for; smooth surfaces, gentle grades and great flow. I repeated Upper
Deck, went Around the Horn, and took a trip into the interior, knowing that
most riders would just cruise around. No more trips to the Dog Park for me!
I
knew it would be hard to ride all the trails, without ticking them off on a map
along the way. The Ballfield is a complicated network. But I hoped come back to
keep up my goal of riding/hiking/running all the local trails (though skipping
any expert level, downhill, bike only routes).
Calloway Ridge and Ballfield Area Rides.
6-29-25,
10.6 mi., Solo
After
my April ride at Concord, I was excited to get back to the park for some
challenging single track. But late spring was wet, and I was never able to make
it back out when the trails were dry, at least according to the AMBC’s Knox Area Trail Report.
Finally,
a high heat dome settled over Knoxville, and dried out the trails. This time I
started from the Calloway Ridge TH near the roundabout arriving about 8AM on a
Sunday. First, I rode the Calloway Ridge Loop over to the Ballfield Area, where
I hoped to finish up most of the two-way trails. Calloway is a fun trail, great
warm up and at a full mile in length, the longest of the Ballfield or Calloway
trails. I only missed one turn, cruising down the Concord Greenway, instead of immediately
ducking under the bridge to get to the Ballfield Area. This time I would not
have a tour guide, but there were other riders and runners out.
Trail
marking is sketchy at Concord, especially for a trail network that’s otherwise
in great shape. The junctions are marked with a sharpie on white plates, most
of which have faded or blurred, plus a few are missing. There are no maps. Even
online I could not find a static map, only the interactive map on Trailforks
looked up to date. It’s a complicated network and I realize most folks probably
just ride around until they get tired, then try to head back. I used my phone
to record mileage and made a Maprika track. It was cool ~80F at the start and
didn’t warm up much throughout the morning as I was able to keep to the shade.
I
started the same way I’d ridden with my guide last time, around Lago on a CCW
loop. Then I took Full Count to Knuckleball. Both were great trails, and I
enjoyed their smooth surface, easy grades, and gentle flow. I was feeling good
on the bike and was tracking my route OK until I came to a 6(!)-way
intersection. I picked High and Tight from the options and found I really
enjoyed it. It is a longer trail with fewer intersections and has a cross
country feel that I liked.
The
Ballfield Area at Concord is all machine cut single track customized for
mountain biking. Calloway Ridge and the Ballfield, along with the Baker Creek
Area in South Knoxville are the most recent trails built around town and easily
the most fun trails around. Many older trails in Knoxville were built to be
challenging and are steeper, narrower, and much rougher with rocks and roots.
It took a generation or so for the building cost for the machine dug trails to
come down, and for folks to realize the easier trails would be more fun, and attract
more riders.
I
rode into a mere 4-way junction that I remembered from my April ride, and
followed it back to the 6-way. I next went Around the Horn, rated green, but
honestly the green and blues seemed similar. I decided to ride High and Tight
again, and took it back to the 4 and 6 way junctions. There were enough riders
that I could have easily asked for directions, but not enough to make the trail
seem crowded. I did another short loop to pick up Batter Up, then headed home
via the triple crown of Knuckleball, Full Count, and Lago again. The Concord
trails have especially good flow and for these hot, humid summer days it’s key
to be able to ride fast enough to enjoy a breeze of your own making. No reason
to sauna your way up some steep lakeside hill!
This
left Bad Hop as the only two way trail I didn’t ride at the Ballfield. But I
still had all the one way, downhill trails left; Warning Track (a rare green
1-way), The short Strike Zone and Switch Hitter near the 6-way, and the longer
Lockdown and Breakout which are served by the climb up Bad Hop. At Calloway I
had not ridden the blue trails Claim Letter, Full Speed Ahead, and the
connector, plus the Greenway and Wall Ride. One more trip with the right
attention to the map ought to do it.
Ballfield Area map from Trailforks.
7-5-25,
10.3 mi., Solo
My
goals for the day were to get out early enough to delay the beating I’d take
from the hot humid weather, and to finish off the trails I still needed to
complete my Concord Trail Map. I was at the Calloway Ridge TH by 7:30. I’d
heard bad things about big rocks on Shades (a Black Trail) and decided to hike
it, then made a loop with Claim Letter and picked off the short connectors
along the way. Hiking mileage was 1.7.
Next,
I got on the bike and rode to the Ballfield Area, climbed up Bad Hop, and took the
downhill trails Lockdown and Breakdown. Part three of the day would be the
three downhill trails by the six-way junction; Strike Zone, Switch Hitter, and
Warning Track where I got good advice on the size of the features on Strike Zone
from some other riders. Then after some fun single track I went back to the
bridge and rode the Greenway a bit past the roundabout and came back along
Wallride to complete my map! By then it was late morning and while it was still
about 80F in the shade, it was approaching 90F in the sun. Ride over.
Here's
a summary of the trails I rode with mileages, ratings, and uses from Trailforks.
1-Full
Speed Ahead, 0.1 mi., Blue, Downhill Only; This short trail adds some features
to a bypass around the easy start of the Calloway Ridge Loop.
2-Rocky
Point, 0.1 mi., Black; This short, rocky connector leads underneath Northshore Drive
to Rocky Point Park.
3-Shades,
0.7 mi., Black; This trail is rated Black primarily for the large rock piles
that appear to remnants of an old quarry. Probably more fun on foot than on the
bike.
4-Black
Hole, 0.1 mi., Black; A short spur that leads around a long abandoned and
flooded quarry.
5-Claim
Letter, 0.4 mi., Blue; A ridgetop route that bisects the Calloway Ridge Loop. Probably
rated Blue for the climb to the ridge.
6-Claim
Letter Connector,0.1 mi., Blue; Some tight switchbacks on this fun shortcut
between Calloway and Claim Letter.
7-Bad
Hop, 0.7 mi., Blue; Probably the easiest way to reach the ridgetop, Upper Deck
Loop, and to access to the downhill trails in the Ballfield Area.
8-Lockdown,
0.3 mi., Blue, Downhill Only; Downhill trail featuring jumps. All features can be bypassed.
9-Breakout,
0.3 mi., Blue, Downhill Only; Downhill extension of Lockdown featuring more
berms and bumps. All features can be bypassed.
10-Strike
Zone, 0.3 mi., Blue, Downhill Only; Descends from the 6-way junction with much
bigger features than the other downhill trails at Concord. Some features are
difficult to bypass. Return via Full Count.
11-Switch
Hitter, 0.1 mi., Blue, Downhill Only; Descends from 6-way alongside Batter Up.
Trail features can be bypassed.
12-Warning
Track, 0.25 mi., Green Downhill Only; Features are mostly easy rollers. Try
this line first if you are unsure of your riding ability.
13-Greenway,
Easy; Rode from east end of Ballfield Area, past the roundabout to Concord
Road. West end is sunny, east end is shaded.
14-Wallride,
0.3 mi., Green Downhill Only; Features are mostly easy rollers with some steep
banked turns. Makes a loop with greenway.
Obviously,
lots of trails here, but not a lot of mileage. Knox County cites 13.7 miles of
dirt trail, and two miles of paved greenway in the park. Even though they don’t
total to a lot of miles, finishing 14 trails in a single morning has to be some
kind of record. For me the three black trails would be no fun on the bike. The
Blue downhills Strike Zone and Switch Hitter are too technical. I could
probably work up to enjoy Lockdown and Breakup. The trails I rode on my first
visits Lago, Knuckleball, Full Count, Around the Horn, and High and Tight have
enough distance to make for a fun full trip. These trails have good flow, a
smooth surface, and no features I could hurt myself on.
Calloway Ridge Area trail map from Trailforks.
