Cherokee NF Ocoee / Tanasi OHV
The Tanasi Trail System is the primary OHV network in the Cherokee National Forest's Ocoee Ranger District, threading through the forested ridges and hollows of Polk and Bradley counties in southeastern Tennessee, the same river corridor that hosted the 1996 Olympic whitewater events at the Ocoee Whitewater Center. The trail system covers approximately 40 miles of designated OHV routes on National Forest land with terrain reflecting the Blue Ridge physiography: rocky hardwood-forested ridgelines, creek crossings on tributaries of the Ocoee and Hiwassee rivers, and technical conditions produced by the thin soils and steep slopes of the Unicoi Mountain range. The name Tanasi honors the Cherokee village that gave Tennessee its name, and the corridor is among the most historically significant landscapes in Southern Appalachian OHV riding, the same forest roads and ridge grades that served the logging operations of the early 20th century now define the trail network. The OHV system is designed for smaller machines: ATVs, UTVs under 50 inches wide, and off-highway motorcycles dominate the trail use, with full-size trucks restricted on most designated corridors due to trail width. Difficulty ranges from moderate on old USFS logging roads to technical single-track on narrower ridge traversals. The Ocoee Whitewater Center on US-64 near Ducktown serves as the primary staging area for both trail riders and whitewater visitors. Cherokee NF OHV permits are required for all motorized use throughout the Ocoee District. Camping is available at Parksville Lake, Thunder Rock, and Quinn Springs campgrounds within the district. The Ocoee Ranger District office in Benton (423-338-3300) manages current trail status and publishes seasonal closure notices, the southern Appalachian trail corridors can be significantly impacted by hurricane-season blowdown and spring flooding from the Ocoee River watershed.