Mead's Quarry Lake — Attraction in Knoxville

This is my go to place for a quick, intense hike! The scenery is gorgeous, there is a moderate to challenging hike all around the quarry and a large parking lot with restrooms. It is clean, they have water sports rentals and a little swimming area and a decent sized rock that puts you over the water for some great photos. I love that you can be so close to downtown Knox but feel like you are out in the middle of the mountains. Great place to take the family or your dog for some exploring! Also, check out Ijams Nature Center, it is a hop and a skip...

A really cool place to swim and relax. For $14 an hour you can rent paddle boards and things like that. They sell beer and food. Sometimes live music. Parking is a little difficult when it's busy so arrive early if you can unless you want to walk a half mile or more. With there being a lot of people I recommend keeping a close eye on your belongings, there are a lot of signs stating to do so since there have been a lot of cars being broken into or someone walking up and taking your stuff while you're swimming to get into your car or whatever so...

Ijams Nature Center has issued a health advisory after a temporary algal bloom was spotted in Meads Quarry Lake. As part of the advisory, Ijams is warning that people and pets should not swim in or ingest the water, scum, foam, or algae that is in the lake.

Ijam’s issued the advisory Thursday afternoon, explaining that the lake is experiencing a temporary bloom of Planktothrix rubescens, a cyanobacterium that produces microcystin, a metabolite that can be toxic to people and pets when in large enough...