Monday, July 25, 2011
Phillips Hamilton Creek Park: A Review
Posted by Betsy Phillips on Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 5:21 AM
Size of Park: Huge
Crowds: Pretty heavy for a Sunday morning
Approximate Age of Patrons: Adult males
Topics of Conversation: Cool things to watch out for on the trails
Stray Dogs Seen: None
Types of Vehicles in Parking Lots: Things big enough to hold bikes
Perceived Safety: High
Number of Gunshots Heard: None
Dog Friendliness: Medium
Number of pitbulls sighted: Just mine
Accessibility: Fine for the playground and some of the picnic areas
Incorporation of Local History: None
Recommended Patrons: Bikers
Our parks have a lot to offer even if you're not very mobile or if all you want to do is sit outside and look at, say, yellow things. Like I said, i figured almost anyone could review parks and I'm almost anyone, so why not?
And yet, I am completely unqualified to review most of Hamilton Creek Park. This is an enormous park just south of the Elm Hill Marina out by the airport. On one side of Bell Road, there's a great view of the lake, some picnic tables, a port-a-potty with some hilarious graffiti that assures readers that the writer is really gay and, if you call him, he really will show you his panties — color me somewhat skeptical— a lovely set of playground equipment, some geese, and one of those bumpy bike track thingies. Do you know what I mean? There's all those bumps and curves and people ride their bikes?
See what I mean? I don't even have the right vocabulary to review this park.
So, there's that — the bumpy track thing, where you can sit and watch. But there are also two enormous paths for bike riding, but not the racy kind, the bumpy kind. Though, I guess, you can race while doing the bumpy kind. I don't know, people. You know there's "fall down and scrape your knee" biking, and "hit by assholes who don't share the road" biking, and "get him to the clearing and we'll airlift him to the hospital" biking? This is the kind of biking that needs room for a helicopter (which they have).
It is considered one of the most technically challenging trail systems in Middle Tennessee. Originally created as a result of outlawed riding at Percy Warner Parks, the trail system is now over 15 years old and is currently being rehabilitated to I.M.B.A. standards through volunteer efforts. The Trails are situated on Army Corps of Engineer property and are managed by Metro Parks and Recreation.
So, that's cool. But honestly, I had no idea that this was even a thing, let alone a thing people did illegally in Percy Warner Park and do legally here.
I can't judge anything about the park. Does it suck for biking? Is it awesome? I have no idea.
I will say, for an early Sunday morning, it seemed pretty busy. The folks on bikes were all friendly and grinning. And I think that speaks volumes. This isn't a park I would ever use, but the people who do use it? Man, they really seem to love it.
Even if you're not into ... I guess you call it mountain biking, this is still a good park for enjoying the playground and watching the water. Like I said, there are bleachers by the track, and I enjoyed watching the guy on it. It seems like that might be something a family would find cool as well.
People had dogs, but I wouldn't call this a great park for dogs. Obviously, they don't want hikers on the bike trails, and the geese don't want dogs coming too near the babies, so it's not a park I would recommend you bring a dog to, though I wouldn't dissuade you.
There's also a boat ramp down at the far end of the park and a sailboat marina. I couldn't tell if the sailboat marina was a part of the park, so I didn't go down there and look. But the park is huge and I think it's really cool that the city has set aside so much land for biking.
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