Holston Hills

GPS Start
- Trail begins at 200 South Chilhowee Drive

On the right we are passing Knoxville’s outstanding 100-acre zoological park. The zoo opened in 1948 with one alligator, named Al. It is the birthplace of Little Diamond who was the first African elephant born in the Western hemisphere. A member of the International Network of Breeding Zoos, the Knoxville zoo is widely recognized for its work with the red panda and is working hard to save endangered species. All of the zoo’s buildings are solar-heated.

Behind the zoo is one of two locations of the East Tennessee Discovery Center –a museum of science discovery, which has a recently upgraded planetarium. The zoo and the East Tennessee Discovery Center are both located in Chilhowee Park, site of the First National Conservation Exposition held here in 1913.

Turning left from Asheville onto Chilhowee Drive welcome to the Holston Hills Dogwood Trail!

Turning left onto Sunset Road as it’s name implies, this is a hilly residential area beside the Holston River, but there’s a whole lot more to the Holston Hills story! Look to the right for a sweeping view of the Great Smoky Mountains!

As the road descends the ridge on the left, down in the valley, the river flows past the John Sevier Community and the ideal cement plant.

After the curve on Holston Hills road we have come down to the level of the Holston River which is on the left. Rivers were the interstate highways of pioneer days. Early settlers from Pennsylvania and Virginia traveled south through the Shenandoah Valley and found their way to this frontier area by following the north fork of the Holston from its Virginia source.

On Crestwood approaching Farragut in the shadow of our native oaks and pines, acid-loving azaleas and rhododendrons flourish here.

Turning left onto Holston Hills Road on the right is Holston Hills Country Club, famous for it’s excellence but difficult golf course. When Holston Hills was subdivided in the 1920′s, the clubhouse was built and the course laid out. Before that time, this entire area was one large farm owned by the Macdonald family.

There is the river below the bluff. This time it is on our right. One and a half miles below this point, the Holston River joins the French Broad River to form the mighty Tennessee River. Three miles farther downstream, downtown Knoxville is the starting point for the Tennessee valley authority’s system of lakes and locks that links the smokies to the gulf of mexico with a nine-foot shipping channel.

In the creek valley on west sunset here we are visiting the wild dogwood in its native habitat.

Now, on the right, is a magnificent overview of the Holston Hills Golf Course with a ribbon of river beyond it and the smoke-blue mountains in the distance.

Descending to chilhowee drive the triangular park we are passing is owned and maintained by the Holston Hills Community Club. The club planted the azaleas and pink dogwoods, the bulbs, and the flowering shrubs, but mother nature furnished the carpet of wild violets.

On chilhowee drive holston Hills has a super abundance of native white dogwood which thrive in Knoxville’s naturally acid soil. Commercially grown pink and red trees respond to the acidity with unusually rich, deep color. The pink and red trees were developed by grafting wild pink dogwood onto sturdy white rootstock. Wilk pink trees exist in Knoxville’s woodlands. Their blooms are a very pale shell pink.

At asheville highway the Holston Hills trail ends here, and we are on our way back to our point of departure. The dogwood trees that beautify the asheville highway were planted by the garden clubs of Holston Hills, the second of Knoxville’s dogwood trails which opened in 1956.
Thank you for celebrating spring with us today!

There are six other dogwood trails–all different and all beautiful– for you to see and enjoy. Please stop by the bus tours booth for maps of the dogwood trails.
Hurry back!