A new Tennessee tourism initiative aims to bring cyclists to explore small towns and natural landscapes in the Volunteer State’s rural areas.
The Tennessee Department of Tourism has created a new program called Bike Tennessee. It includes over 50 road cycling routes throughout the state that showcase small towns and other landscapes in rural areas.
Shannon Burke, owner of Velo View Bike Tours in Chattanooga, collaborated with the Department of Tourism to curate the trails located on Tennessee’s back roads.
The initiative originally started at a regional level in Chattanooga. Burke was influenced by a similar statewide scenic bikeway program in Oregon to establish one in Tennessee – which is the first statewide cycling tourism program in the South.
Burke said he developed these routes with his customers in mind. He said he not only searched for low traffic, scenic roadways, but also for routes with other tourism stops and amenities nearby.
“That was the process I took of really trying to maximize people's time on the bike, so that they're not spending it on a road that's boring or that's got traffic or, you know, anything that would detract from the experience,” Burke said.
Burke said the goal of the program is to encourage cyclists from out-of-state to explore the Volunteer State and spend time and money in Tennessee’s rural communities.
Bike Tennessee has several routes in northwest Tennessee, including a 36-mile loop near Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, and a 24-mile route in Obion County that takes riders alongside open farmland.
Burke said the routes can be modified, and cyclists can make rides shorter or longer to adjust to their personal fitness level.
The cycling tourism guide said riding bicycles can take people through parts of nature they may not always see.
“I was always a hiker. Growing up around Gatlinburg, I loved being outside, loved hiking in the Smokies,” Burke said. “But with a bike, you cover so much more ground, but you still have that same experience. Like, you still have the same full sensory experience of seeing things and smelling things and feeling the wind.”
Bike Tennessee also promotes group riding events and races along the routes.
More information, including maps of all 52 routes, can be found on the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development’s website.
