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Plants and Animals
A portion of the Gorge, primarily the lower area, has been surveyed
for rare plant and animal species. Several have been identified and located
in the gorge area. These include:
• Cimicifuga
Rubifolia (Appalachian Bugbane)
State - Threatened
• Diervilla
Lonicera (Northern Bush-honeysuckle)
State - Threatened
• Diervilla Sessilifolia rivularis
State - Threatened
• Glyceria
Acutiflora (Manna-grass)
State - Threatened
• Panax
Quinquefolius (Ginseng)
• Saxifraga
Careyana (Carey's Saxifraga)
• Scutellaria
Montana (Large-Flowered Skullcap)
Federal and State - Endangered
• Spiraea
Virginiana (Virginia Spiraea)
Federal and State - Endangered
• Talinum
Mengesii (Fame Flower)
Federal - Endangered
• Viola
Tripartita (Three-parted Violet)
• Woodwareia
Virginica (Virginia Chain-Fern)
Scutellaria Montana
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The
Watershed
North Chickamauga Creek begins with the union of two small streams,
Standifer and Brimer Creeks, near the western rim of Walden's Ridge in
southeast Tennessee, approximately 15 miles from
the city of Chattanooga. The creek flows eastward,
collecting flow from Mossy, Cain, and Cooper Creeks and their upland
tributaries, and then begins a rapid descent toward the valley floor,
cutting a spectacularly scenic, deep central gorge through the sandstone of
the plateau. Past Hogskin Branch, the creek curves southward, rounding the
wall of the escarpment. As it enters the valley, the waters of the creek
spill into several caves and fissures eroded into the porous limestone of
the valley floor, and the stream disappears during much of the year,
leaving an exposed bed of dry white cobbles. A short distance downstream,
the stream flows back into its above ground channel. The creek winds its
way through Soddy Daisy, Middle Valley, and Hixson
communities--some of the fastest growing areas in Hamilton County--before emptying into the Tennessee River just below Chickamauga Dam.
In its 32-mile course from ridgetop to river, the creek drains some 120
square miles of upland and valley land.
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The
Gorge
The North Chickamauga Creek Gorge, located 15 miles from downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee, is a beautiful deep central
gorge cut into the sandstone plateau of Walden's Ridge. It is approximately
10 miles long--steep, and rugged with forested slopes and very limited
access. This gorge is the upper portion of the 32-mile North Chickamauga
Creek, one of the main tributaries of the Tennessee River in Chattanooga. Near its confluence with
the Tennessee
River
is the North Chickamauga Creek Greenway, A popular greenway with over 400
acres of adjacent public open space and three miles of pedestrian trails.
The North
Chickamauga Creek Gorge is listed by the National Park Service in their
Nationwide Rivers Inventory for its "outstanding scenic, recreational,
geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, and cultural values." In
addition, it is on the "Top 200" list of the American Rivers
Conservation Council, on AWA's Top 40 list for 1993/1994 "Most
Deserving of Attention for Protection," and is one of the highest quality
and most difficult whitewater creeks in eastern U.S.
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