Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Around Town / Phillips The Whites Creek Greenway: A Review
Posted by Betsy Phillips on Wed, Dec 2, 2009 at 3:15 PM
In Short:
Location: Along Whites Creek between Tucker and Clarksville Pike (for now.)
Crowds: Minimal
Approximate Age of Patrons of Greenway: Over 50
Topics of Conversation: The Weather and Why Anyone Would Go to Ashland City
Stray Dogs Seen: None (but note, some walkers carried large sticks, so stray dogs may be a problem)
Types of Vehicles in Parking Lot: Mostly pickup trucks
Perceived Safety: High. You park near the police academy and walk along the edge of the academy. There are enough people around that you feel like someone would hear you cry for help but not so many that you feel crowded.
Number of Gunshots Heard: 8
Dog Friendliness: No poop bags provided and parts of the path don't have a lot of side clearance, so if you need room to maneuver your dog around others, could be a problem.
Number of pitbulls sighted: One (mine).
Accessibility: If you have wheels, this seems like a great greenway. There are slight inclines, but a motorized scooter could take them, no problem. There aren't any benches, though, until you get almost three quarters of a mile down the path, so if you are going by foot, note that you need to be able to walk that far without needing to sit down.
Incorporation of Local History: Not very good. No mention of the James brothers, even though, once you cross the bridge, you're walking on land Frank James farmed, and little explanation of the history of the area. A raised area near the picnic shelter looks like it could be a Native American burial spot, but there's nothing to indicate if it is.
Recommended patrons: Birdwatchers.
The Whites Creek Greenway is a mixed bag. On the one hand, it's very level and paved and
The creek, though, is not always that great a view. A lot of crap has been tossed in there. I saw a couple of plastic chairs and garbage stuck in plants out on the islands. Still, the more people that use the greenway and come to love it, the easier it will be for Whites Creek to get some "Friends of" who will go out there when the weather's warmer and clean that stuff up.
Still, these are really slight and fixable problems and ones that should not prevent anyone from enjoying what is really a beautiful greenway.
If you are a birdwatcher, I could not more highly recommend this greenway. I saw hawks and all kinds of little birds in the thickets and a beautiful woodpecker so close I was half-tempted to try to touch it. And even this late
I would typify this as a nice greenway with great potential. And I cannot wait for it to stretch clear to the Ashland City Highway. That's going to be a really cool and beautiful walk.
Comments (9)
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It was certainly some of the best bird watching I've seen in a city park, which is saying something, because we have good birds in our parks.
I suspect the bushes with beautiful red berries was probably invasive honeysuckle. Beautiful, but terribly hard on the native plants.
Surely honeysuckle has been in TN long enough we can call it native now.
That brush between the trail and the creek is called a 'buffer' and it's pretty much state law that you can't rip that out. Gives the fish shade and helps keep some pollutants out of the creek. Supposedly.
Hey, I can attest that it keeps some pollutants out of the creek--because those pollutants stay stuck in the trees!
This is a great article. Please visit and review ALL the greenways. How about Peeler next?
The prices of fish oil products has risen significantly. I am giving my son 2 capsules a day to help him with memory. Does anybody know where I an find an cheap solution? By the way, it is great. His grade went up 2 points after consuming fish oil capsules.
