TN RiverTowns
SPARQ is proud to announce that our application for the city of South Pittsburg was accepted to the Tennessee RiverTowns Program as part of the Tennessee RiverLine, North America’s next great regional trail system. This transformative initiative is led by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in collaboration with the Tennessee RiverLine Partnership.
What is the Tennessee RiverTowns Program?
The program is a three-stage initiative that cultivates collaboration among river communities around the Tennessee RiverLine, envisioned as a continuous system of paddling, hiking, and biking experiences along the Tennessee River’s 652-mile reach.
South Pittsburg will benefit from economic development and entrepreneurship opportunities, quality of life amenities, and increased access to river experiences that improve public health and stewardship of natural resources. In the third stage of the program, communities will earn the official designation of a Tennessee RiverTown as part of the Tennessee RiverLine.
Tennessee River communities are the beating heart of the Tennessee RiverLine. We are excited to begin collaborating with such a diverse group of communities through the Tennessee RiverTowns Program as we seek to unlock the river’s latent potentials for the benefit of generations of the region’s residents and visitors.
Called North America’s next great regional trail system, the Tennessee RiverLine originated in 2016 in UT’s School of Landscape Architecture, housed jointly within the College of Architecture and Design and the Herbert College of Agriculture. Today it is administrated by the Tennessee RiverLine Partnership with ongoing strong financial support from UT and the Tennessee Valley Authority.
The Tennessee RiverLine Partnership was founded as a diverse group of river advocates, including UT, TVA, the National Park Service’s Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program, and several other organizations and agencies, to achieve the Tennessee RiverLine vision. Learn more about the Tennessee RiverLine and stay up to date with programs and initiatives at www.tnriverline.org.