North Shore Hills

Looking for a time-efficient workout that isn't a spin class or sitting on the trainer in your basement? This is your ride! Consider these hills interval training and brace yourself for a scenic survey of Chattanooga's North Shore.

We've chosen Outdoor Chattanooga as our starting & finishing point, but the route can be joined at multiple locations to make the route shorter and easier.

From Outdoor Chattanooga roll over to Tremont Street and follow it across Frazier Avenue and up the hill. Termont makes for a nice warm-up climb, with an easy grade to get you going. (Be sure to check out iconic restaurant Aretha Frankensteins about half a mile up the hill. Their pancakes are ridiculously good!)

After a slow grind up the hill for just under a mile, you'll come to a four-way stop. Take a left onto Mississippi Avenue and then take your first right onto Summer Street, which will drop you down a hill to a stop sign. at Dartmouth Street Take a right on Dartmouth and follow it down to Hixson Pike.

Hixson Pike is a busy road so use caution as you make a right turn here. Stay in the right lane and immediately take a right turn onto Tremont Street at the traffic signal. (For future reference, this corner between Dartmouth and Tremont has two great restaurants - Daily Ration and Tremont Tavern. And on the other side of Hixson Pike there are two more excellent spots - Southern Squeeze and Il Primo.)

After turning right onto Tremont Street, you'll enjoy a nice steady grade climb (about half a mile) up a tree-lined road. We love this little climb for its rural feel in the heart of the city.

You'll come to a stop sign at a confusing intersection towards the top of the climb. Go straight (veering a little to the right but not taking the hard right) to stay on Tremont a little longer. A block later, you'll be back at the four-way stop of Tremont & Mississippi. Turn right onto Mississippi and ride the bike lane about a quarter-mile before turning left onto Forest Avenue.

The turn onto Forest Avenue comes just as you start to go downhill on MIssissippi (you'll see St Mark's Methodist Church on your right), and it's kind of a big intersection with a little island. So use caution as you cut across onto Forest.

Once safely on Forest, you'll go just under half a mile (and through a couple of 90-degree curves) before taking a left onto Colville Street followed by a quick right onto Oliver Street. Oliver Street is super narrow so use caution as you descend down it and keep an out for Delmont Street about a quarter of a mile down the hill. It will be easy to miss as it veers off to the right.

Delmont turns to the left almost immediately after you get on it, so be sure not go straight onto Manning Street. After making this left turn you can coast all the way down to Frazier Avenue.

Carefully turn right onto Frazier and stay in the right lane, as you'll immediately turn right again and head up Forest Avenue - an iconic climb in the heart of the city! After a half-mile of suffering, look for Colville Street and turn left.

This begins kind of a maze of streets (more like alleys) that are fun due to their off-the-beaten-path character but also a bit confusing. In short, after turning onto Colville, you'll take you first left onto Woodland Avenue, then take the next right onto Noll Street, then the next left which is a continuation of Woodland Avenue. From here, roll down Woodland about a quarter-mile before taking a hard right onto Hamilton Avenue. Keep your speed in check so you can make this turn!

After turning onto Hamilton veer to your left onto Bush Street to get down to Market Street where you'll turn right. Ride in the bike path up Market Street for a quarter-mile before sliding into the left-turn lane to cut over to Hamilton Avenue. Use caution as you come out of the bike lane to get over to the turn lane, as traffic on Market Street can be fast.

Once you're safely across Market Street and on Hamilton Avenue, you'll have very little traffic to contend with as you ride through a residential area. Hamilton Avenue takes you uphill, starting gradually at first and then turning quite steep. The steep part is roughly half a mile, so gear down and take your time.

Once you crest the climb, keep your speed in check, as the descent is very steep and ends at a stop sign. Take a left at the stop sign onto Whiteoak Road which quickly changes names to Memorial Drive as you veer to the left.

Just before you get to Dayton Blvd (right before the train tracks), take a right onto Lyndon Avenue and enjoy a half-mile of easy flat riding. This little respite comes to an abrupt end, as Lyndon ends at a "T" intersection with Culver Street. After turning right onto Culver, you'll go straight up for a quarter-mile before it bends to the left and becomes Easton Avenue.

Ride the rollers on Easton for another half-mile until you reach a 4-way stop. Take a left here onto Newberry Street and roll down to the stop light at Dayton Blvd.

Go straight at the light (actually it's a tight left-right jog) and continue on Newberry Street on the other side of Dayton Blvd. This will have you going up another short steep hill until Newberry comes to a "T" intersection with Berkely Drive.

Take a right on Berkely and then take your first left onto Lamar Avenue and then turn left again onto Gaylord Drive. Gaylord Drive will cut you over to Martin Road, where you'll turn left and enjoy a relatively peaceful 3/4 of a mile stretch without any climbs or turns.

A stop sign at the intersection of Martin and Sims Drive marks the end of this little stretch. Turn right onto Sims and you'll get back to work as Sims veers off to the left and turns sharply uphill.

The climb is only about a quarter-mile though and soon you'll be dropping back down as the road changes names to California Avenue. Be careful on this descent as the road can be a little rough in places. It also comes to an abrupt stop at the bottom of the hill when it runs into Dayton Blvd.

Use the crosswalk button to get through this traffic light and take Memorial Drive a short block before turning right onto Lyndon Avenue. Follow Lyndon a half-mile until you reach a stop sign. Take a left here onto Midvale Avenue and follow it uphill as it becomes Ben Miller Parkway and takes you past White Oak Park.

Just past the park you'll come to an intersection with Pine Breeze Road, Take a left here and drop down to Whiteoak Road. You've gone down this steep section before, but this time rather than turning left, you'll turn right onto Whiteoak and go up a slight incline for almost half a mile before Whiteoak veers to the right and becomes Arden Avenue.

The grade kicks up as the road changes names and then gets even steeper as you take your first right onto Edgehill Street. Edgehill is a short street and soon you'll be taking a left onto Berkley and feeling a much easier grade. A little farther on Berkley and you'll start to roll downhill. (For what it's worth, the crest of this climb, at approximately 965 feet, is the highest elevation on this ride.)

Take a right at the stop sign where Berkley intersects with Dallas Road and enjoy a fast descent for the next 1.2 miles. At the start of the descent down Dallas, use the right lane which soon becomes a shoulder and then becomes a bike lane. The descent is fast and fun, but keep an eye out for gravel & debris on the shoulder and bike lane.

As Dallas bottoms out it becomes Market Street and you'll come to a traffic light with Publix grocery store on your left. Take a right here onto Manning Street and follow it over to another light at Cherokee Blvd. Go straight at this light, continuing on Manning Street as it goes under Hwy 27 and becomes Whitehall Road.

Veer right after passing under Hwy 27 to stay on Whitehall and follow it up a nice climb with a reasonable grade. Towards the top of the climb, the road comes to a stop sign. Turn right here to stay on Whitehall and continue the climb, and then take your first right onto Walsh Road. You'll still be climbing on Walsh, but you'll also get to enjoy some nice views overlooking the Tennessee River and downtown Chattanooga.

After a short run, Walsh rejoins Whitehall Road, where you'll turn right and enjoy an easier grade before making one final push to crest the climb. After hitting the top, the road will bend to the left and drop straight down. Keep your speed in check on the way down, as you'll need to yield to traffic before turning right onto Elmwood Drive at the bottom of the hill.

Elmwood will take you back under Hwy 27 to East Frontage Road, where you'll turn left and start uphill. Take your first left onto Stringers Ridge Road, and then turn right and go up the steep driveway of The Pinnacle condominiums. At the top of the driveway go straight to get on the other side of the condo building and then veer left to work your way around the parking lot to the rear exit gate. (You may need to roll up close to the gate to trigger it to open. It's motion sensitive, not weight-based.) There's a great view of the city from this parking lot!

Roll down the hill from the exit gate all the way back down to Elmwood Drive, where you'll turn left and follow it back to its intersection with Whitehall Road, where you'll turn left and grind out the half-mile climb all the way back up to the top of the ridge.

Follow Whitehall back down the mountain the way you came up and continue straight as it changes names to Manning Street and passes under Hwy 27. Continue straight on Manning through the light at Cherokee Blvd all the way to the light at Market Street.

Turn right on Market Street and then take your first left onto Kent Street and brace for impact! We've saved the best for last and you'll need a lot of power to make it up this short but super steep hill, which gets even steeper at top!

After cresting this killer little hill, turn right onto Forest Avenue and follow it down to the traffic light at Frazier Avenue. Turn left onto Frazier and stay in the right lane as you follow it to the next traffic light, which is Tremont Street. Take a right onto Tremont, followed by another right, which will have you back at Outdoor Chattanooga where you can take a deep breath and enjoy a proper recovery at one of the many great restaurants on Chattanooga's North Shore!