REFLECTION RIDING

Reflection Riding is 300-plus acres in Lookout Valley, ten minutes from downtown Chattanooga, and it runs as two different places depending on which way you turn out of the lot. The three-mile gravel loop is wide and flat, winding between mature hardwood forest, wildflower meadow and wetland. Off that spine, ten miles of trail head toward Lookout Creek and into National Park land that climbs to the top of Lookout Mountain.

The gravel loop is the flattest honest mileage this close to town, and it is what our Oli Kai laps all day — a 2.1-mile version of it with about 190 feet of climbing per lap. Turn the other way and the Kiddie Trail climbs to Sunset Rock: four miles and 1,256 feet. Lookout Creek Trail sits between the two at 2.5 miles and 91 feet.

Plan around the gate. The main gate and Welcome Center are open 9:00am to 4:00pm, Tuesday through Saturday, and the gate normally closes at 4:00pm — if you are still out, the exit route runs past the nursery and ponds, left of the ponds, left in front of Humphreys House, then out the one-way road. Members are welcome sunrise to sunset any day. There is no fixed admission: visitors pick up a visit pass or donate toward the visit, and access stays open to everyone.

It is a working nature center as well as a run, so the campus comes with red wolves, a bobcat, sandhill cranes and a bald eagle in the native animal exhibit. Lookout Creek is open to canoes again now the boardwalk is repaired — call (423) 821-1160 to reserve one and ask about creek levels. Bad Beard races here twice a year: Oli Kai, the 3, 6 and 9-hour timed loop, and Tails, Trails & Ales, where dogs take on a 1-mile Pup Dash, 5K or 10K on a six-foot leash.