Hiking trails near Athens, Tennessee

49 official trails lie within 25 miles of Athens — 433 miles in total, 24 rated easy and 15 hard or expert. Every distance and elevation figure below is computed from the agency centerline and a 10 m elevation model, not crowd-sourced.

The biggest climb nearby gains 3,462 ft; the median trail gains 287 ft.

Open the map on Athens

24 trails worth the drive

Trail	Miles	Climb	Difficulty	Drive from town
Unicoi Mountain Horse Trail	10.7	1,621 ft	Expert	54 min · 35 mi
Benton-Mckaye	99.0	3,462 ft	Expert	1 h 04 min · 38 mi
John Muir National Recreation	44.4	933 ft	Expert	39 min · 25 mi
Cumberland Trail	137.0	1,002 ft	Expert	1 h 24 min · 34 mi
Cooper Gap	7.5	1,228 ft	Expert	57 min · 26 mi
Coffee Branch Trail	7.2	1,265 ft	Hard	1 h 03 min · 34 mi
Warriors Passage Trail	4.0	1,886 ft	Hard	53 min · 31 mi
Oswald Dome Trail	3.7	2,246 ft	Hard	1 h 24 min · 35 mi
CT - Upper Piney River	8.4	709 ft	Hard	1 h 24 min · 34 mi
Coker Creek Falls Trail	6.8	395 ft	Hard	1 h 16 min · 43 mi
Unicoi Mtn Motorcycle Trail	6.4	441 ft	Hard	1 h 04 min · 38 mi
Starr Mountain Hiking Trail	4.8	1,374 ft	Hard	31 min · 19 mi
Unicoi Mountain Hiking Trail	4.1	1,030 ft	Hard	1 h 05 min · 42 mi
Clear Creek Trail	4.6	1,046 ft	Hard	50 min · 32 mi
Chestnut Mountain Horse Trail	3.5	1,072 ft	Moderate	32 min · 19 mi
Smith Mtn Motorcycle Trail	3.4	843 ft	Moderate	1 h 38 min · 40 mi
Clemmer Bike Trail	4.2	800 ft	Moderate	51 min · 33 mi
Gravelstand Top Trail	2.5	980 ft	Moderate	1 h 08 min · 36 mi
Benton Mckaye - 09	3.1	287 ft	Moderate	1 h 03 min · 37 mi
Hogback Horse Trail	4.0	381 ft	Moderate	1 h 08 min · 34 mi
Unicoi Mountain Trail	3.2	223 ft	Moderate	1 h 04 min · 38 mi
Whites Creek	2.4	238 ft	Moderate	56 min · 36 mi
Athens Rail-2-Trail Project	6.2	200 ft	Moderate	6 min · 3 mi
Gee Creek Hiking Trail	1.2	568 ft	Moderate	31 min · 19 mi

Quick picks near Athens

Easy and short: Starr Mountain Horse Trail — 3.2 mi, rated easy, 13 mi from town
Biggest climb: Benton-Mckaye — 3,462 ft over 99.0 mi, 24 mi from town
Longest: Cumberland Trail — 137.0 mi, 24 mi from town

What the trails reach

Waterfalls: Cumberland Trail to Snow Falls; Clear Creek Trail to Benton Falls; Clemmer Bike Trail to Benton Falls; CT_Laurel Falls Trail to Laurel Falls

Summits: Unicoi Mountain Horse Trail to Peels Top; Benton-Mckaye to Big Frog Mountain; John Muir National Recreation to Big Rock Island; Oswald Dome Trail to Oswald Dome

Lakes: Benton-Mckaye to Ocoee Number Three Lake; Cumberland Trail to Dayton Reservoir; Clemmer Bike Trail to McKomey Lake; CT_Laurel-Snow Trail to Dayton Reservoir

Viewpoints: Cumberland Trail to Dunn Overlook; CT_Laurel Falls Trail to Bryan Overlook

Mountain passes: Benton-Mckaye to Double Spring Gap; John Muir National Recreation to The Narrows; Coffee Branch Trail to Iron Gap; Warriors Passage Trail to Mule Pen Gap

Trail guides near Athens

Big Frog Mountain Hiking Trail — 12.3 mi, 2,072 ft climb · 28 mi away
Licklog Ridge Trail — 15.8 mi, 2,392 ft climb · 29 mi away
Grassy Gap — 14.7 mi, 308 ft climb · 30 mi away
Hemptop — 10.5 mi, 2,033 ft climb · 32 mi away
Fodderstack Mountain — 11.0 mi, 911 ft climb · 33 mi away
Rabbit Creek Trail — 23.1 mi, 1,254 ft climb · 39 mi away
Snowbird Mountain — 14.4 mi, 2,594 ft climb · 40 mi away

Nearby towns: Dayton (23 mi) · Cleveland (24 mi) · Rockwood (29 mi) · Lenoir City (31 mi)

All Tennessee trail guides · Hiking by city · Dispersed camping rules