William Hastie Natural Area — Attraction in Knoxville

William Hastie Natural Area is comprised of about 75 acres of mature woodland, with ridges and narrow drainages. The forest is mostly hardwood, with a few areas of pine and cedar on drier slopes. It is in a karst area, with several active sinkholes, and a pond with no visible outlet. This pond probably drains into the cave system that continues into the Ross and Mead's Quarry areas of Ijams Nature Center. The area may have been previously farm or pasture land, but now contains many large trees of numerous species. There is a rich community of wildflowers, with most of the locally frequent species as well as several rarities blooming at any time from March to November. William Hastie Natural Area is criss-crossed with a number of trails established and maintained by the Appalachian Mountain Biking Club. The trails range from easy to moderately difficult for biking, but mostly easy for...

Pros: Some of the best trail running, biking, and hiking trails in Knoxville. Many miles of awesome trails weave through the woods with great views in the winter and a dense get away in the summer. There is also a healthy population of deer, turkeys, owls, and wild flowers. The pond is nice as well. You feel like you are in the lower elevations of the smokies, but 5 miles from downtown.

Cons: The parking lot is a little tough to find. The trails tend to be muddy with the exception of the gravel Margaret road trail. If you mtn bike, stick to the gravel if it's muddy. Be warned, this park is in a deep valley and gets little sun in the winter, so it is slick unless there have been a few days of...

Its a joke to even consider this place as a natural area. Its chock full of harmful invasive such as amur honeysuckle, leather leaf mahonia, winter creeper and more. I know leaving a review might not do much, but I sincerely hope that nearby organizations put forth an effort to restore this patch of weeds to a TRUE biodiverse wilderness area that future generations can enjoy and so they can understand what true...