Athens Regional Park — Attraction in Athens

Important points: The 3.1 mile walking trail / mountain bike trail has no markings and is very easy to lose. There are snakes in the area, not more than a foot off the Lake Loop path. (Luckily this path is easy to make-out as it's paved.)

Went to the park today, 1/17/2015, to do the 3.1 mile walking trail / mountain bike trail. It is a natural path, meaning not paved, and after a while on the trail, it becomes difficult to determine what is the path, and what is just woods. There was only one marking the entire time I was on the trail. It indicated there was a trail split and had one arrow pointing left, and one arrow pointing right. I went right, and after walking probably 50 feet was absolutely unable to figure out where the path was. So we had to backtrack and go left at the split instead. Maybe it's easier to tell in the winter when everything is green and only the path is brown/dirt, but everything was covered with brown & dying leaves, and we had a hard time. As a result, after some area with a creek that is part of some restoration area (had a sign that talked about purifying water), we ended up losing the trail, as we could not make out any discernible trail, and we had to walk along the road to make it back to the start of the trail where our car was. If I wanted to walk along a road, I would have just stayed at home! Hey there park staff - how about some arrows? Spray painted on a tree, or a stake pounded into the dirt, or something to let people know where the path is and where they are supposed to walk? The trail is a loop. It's important to stay on the trail so you make it back to where you start, which is where you parked your car! It's also important to stay on the trail, as there are snakes in the area. Read on.....

Secondly, on our way back to our car, we saw there is a Lake Loop Trail. This area has a very clear path, as it is paved. We decided to take that. There were lots of people there in lawn chairs fishing. The area is pretty. Instead of looping right back around the lake, we took the paved path back a bit. The path winds along a creek. I could tell my dog was thirsty, and I hadn't brought her any water, so we walked down to the creek, which is only like 1 foot off the path, and I was going to let her get a quick drink. The way we took down to the creek was a commonly-traveled path, but it was not an official path the park had put in. It was "worn-in" from frequent pedestrian use. Just as we got to the bottom, I saw something brown kind of dart VERY quickly from the grassy area into the water. Then I saw something brown moving in the water. I thought it was a floating stick. I figured I must have kicked a stick somehow. I do drag my feet when I walk. Then I realized it wasn't a stick. It was a snake. I know snakes are prolific in this area of TN. I'm not saying there's anything the park did wrong, nor is there probably anything they can do to keep the little buggers out. That being said, I don't want to be around where there are snakes, and I don't want my dog there either.

In conclusion: The 3.1 mile walking trail / mountain bike trail is poorly marked and very easy to lose. There are snakes in the area, not more than a foot off the Lake Loop path. (Luckily this path is easy to make-out as...

EDIT: Went from 2 Stars to 3 Stars on 3/4/25 Since then they have finally fixed most of the problems with the playground such as replacing the tire swings. When the splash pad opens in a couple months, we'll see how it's operating this year. They said that they done "renovations" on the playground and had it closed for like around a month back in April of this year but I don't see anything actually new here at the playground or the splash pad. The tire swings are still missing on the playground and have been for at least a couple years now. So I'm not exactly sure what they "renovated" at the playground or splash pad. There's still a couple things not even functioning at the splash pad and haven't been for 2 or 3 years or so. Also, the splash pad doesn't have the normal full water pressure that it's supposed to have so it's kinda disappointing. I'd much rather go to the Engelman Park in Sweetwater because I've heard it is well kept and much nicer than here at Athens Regional Park! **Pictures are of things on playground & splash pad that is missing and/or...

This is a nice park and on a normal day, I am sure that it is wonderful for the family, but for us it was not so good. We were there for the eclipse event on August 21 2017. We arrived at about 8:30 AM and we were able to find a spot, but the organizers were not ready! I don't know if they underestimated the event or what, but the lack of restrooms was unbelievable. They should have put porta-potties around, but instead you had to stand in long lines waiting for a chance to enter one of the few restrooms. This was not good! Then there was a serious lack of traffic control after the event. It took us over two hours just to leave the park and the only traffic control was when you exited the park. More could have been done to ensure a steady flow out of the area. I know there were about 10000 people there, but still you guys - think ahead and learn from this experience - more potties and better...