Five-Star Trails: Knoxville : Your Guide to the Area's Most Beautiful Hikes

"No one knows Knoxville better than veteran outdoor-adventure author Johnny Molloy. Each hike text displays one- to five-star rankings in five categories: Scenery, Difficulty, Trail Condition, Solitude, and Appropriateness for Children. Each entry includes directions to the trailhead, at-a-glance info, a user-friendly map, GPS coordinates, an elevation profile, and a brief overview"-- Provided by publisher

Like others in the Five-Star Trails series, this book features up to 40 day-hikes, ranging from 1 mile to 12 miles, in and near a midsize city-m-in this case, Knoxville.

The author has carefully chosen each hike to create a collection of routes suitable for a varied, but primarily local, outdoors audience. Based on the author's extensive and intimate knowledge of the region, some of the hikes represent a combination of two or more trails that create a unique route.

As a distinguishing feature of the series, as signaled by the Five-Star series title, each entry displays ratings of one to five stars in five categories for that hike. Those categories are:
• Scenery
• Level of Difficulty
• Trail Conditions
• Degree of Solitude
• Appropriateness for Children

The book's overview map provides a quick visual summation of the hikes' locations within the greater Knoxville area. Then, individually, each hike features an easy-to-follow trail map, elevation profile, at-a-glance information, and narrative description. The main text for each entry provides details about the route to follow. It also focuses on the most notable aspects of that route: for some, it may be the panoramic view; for others, a bit of local history and legend; for others the abundance of flora or the opportunity to spot wildlife.

At the end of each route entry, if pertinent, the author leads the reader to nearby attractions. Such sites may be a pioneer museum, a fun and funky place for lunch where grubby hiking attire will pass muster, or a historic inn for future travel reference.

With a trail collection so diverse that it is designed for hiking levels from novice to trailblazer, this book will become a dog-eared companion for anyone interested in the best hikes his or her region has to offer.

Lace Up, Grab Your Pack, and Hit the Trails in Knoxville! Knoxville is a hikers nirvana, with national, state, and local parks that are home to a network of trails that wind through hilly woodlands, around expansive lakes, and along meandering rivers. And nobody knows this part of Tennessee better than veteran outdoor-adventure author Johnny Molloy. In Five-Star Knoxville, the description of each hike displays one- to five-star rankings in five Scenery, Difficulty, Trail Condition, Solitude, and Appropriateness for Children. Each entry also includes directions to the trailhead, at-a-glance info, a user-friendly map, GPS coordinates, an elevation profile, and a brief overview. Molloy details easy strolls through urban parks, adventurous treks through the wilds of the Great Smokies, rambles in the deep, dark hollows of the ridge-and-valley country, and everything in between.