[tn-bird] Re: Brainerd Levee
- From: "David & Gloria Patterson" <dgpatterson@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 15:45:41 -0000
The following information about Brainerd Levee, Chattanooga, may be of interest:
Directions: Take I-75 to exit 4, Highway 153. Go north on Highway 153 to
Shallowford Road exit, turn left (west) on Shallowford Road then two miles to
intersection of Shallowford and North Moore Road. Parking lot is at the corner.
Highlights: The walking road along the levee has numbered markers every 0.2
miles. The walking road is 3.2 miles long. To walk the loops and interesting
side roads and return to your starting place is about 12 miles.
0.0 Begin at Shallowford Road and Moore Road, behind Golden Gallon Exxon,
Picnic Tables
0.2 Parking Lot; Most visitors park and begin here. Walk to your left,
north.
0.3 The levee turns right, north. The Simms farm on your left usually has
blackbirds
in the front pasture, the back pasture usually has ducks if it is wet.
0.5 The levee turns right, south, here
The low area to the right, inside the curve, when wet,
is the prime viewing area for ducks and shorbirds.
To the left, north, downstream along Chickamauga Creek, go about one half mile
along overgrown foot paths to an excellent, pleasant 1+ mile nature loop
in the back of the Vulcan Employees Recreation Area.
1.0 Boyd-Buchannan School
1.6 Rock Dam on your left good place to look up and down creek
Great Blue Heron Rookery on left, in trees across creek
On right: Portable Rest Room and dirt road to Brainerd Recreational Complex
The road is about a quarter mile long and ends at the Complex parking area.
There is a variety of habitat along the road, great for migratory warblers.
Also walk south along the edge of the woods to the power line, small swamp.
Alternate entry to Brainerd Levee: The levee runs roughly parallel to Moore
Road.
Follow Moore Road to Brainerd High School. Next to the high school you'll
find a
large sign "Brainerd Complex" and a smaller sign "Brainerd Tennis Courts".
Turn here
and go by the courts to the rear parking lot. This is the dirt road mentioned
above.
1.7 Old Bridge good place to look up and down creek
1.8 Power Line Look along power line for hawks.
To your right is the deepest wet area (beaver dam),
stays wet when everything else dries up. good for rails and herons
2.4 Water Control Structure Cliff Swallow nests
2.9 Brainerd Road, often hard to cross on foot; take Moore Road from
Shalloford
to Brainerd Road and park near levee.
3.0 East Gate Golf Course - closed - might be worth checking
3.2 Right turn here, gravel road 0.2 miles to end of greenway
Left Turn - blacktop trail 0.5 miles to Camp Jordan
I-75 Pigeon & Cliff Swallow nests under bridge
At Camp Jordan there is an interesting foot bridge, a 2-mile loop walk,
a fish pond, some short walks to small creeks
History: Brainerd Levee was completed about January, 1981. TVA paid $14.3 and
City paid $3 million, a total cost of about $5.4 million per mile. It's purpose
is to prevent flooding of the area between the Chicamagua Creek and Moore Road.
The city Dept of Public Works has overall responsibility for the levee. Vulcan
Materials built and maintains the road. The road is considered a "greenway" and
part of the city park system.
From Chattanooga TOS Website: This city-owned levee has created a freshwater
marsh and seasonal mudflat that is habitat for a variety of wetland species and
migratory birds. Spring and fall bring marsh species such as bitterns, rails
and an occasional rarity like the common moorhen or glossy ibis. In summer,
waders such as herons and egrets and perhaps a white ibis may be found. The
levee is home to many species of songbirds by season and ducks in the winter.
Such neotropical migrants as common yellowthroats and orchard orioles breed in
the area and various sparrows abound in the fall and winter. The Brainerd levee
is one of the most important stopover areas in eastern Tennessee for shorebirds
migrating between Canada and South America, with at least 23 species observed
here.
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