Soddy Creek Resource Management Area
Nature preserve
687 acres6 mi of trail
CT - Soddy Creek Gorge Trail (North)CT Connector
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
AOutdoors
Outdoors in Flat Top Mountain
Flat Top Mountain has 1,134 acres of parks, 1,129 for every 1,000 residents
26 miles of mapped trail cross Flat Top Mountain, 1.5 per square mile of land. 10% of Flat Top Mountain’s land is conserved, about 1,128 acres. The biggest trail networks: Soddy Creek Resource Management Area (6 mi), Possum Creek Resource Management Area (1.2 mi).
Ahead of 92% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
10%
1,128 acres · of 17.3 sq mi of land
Trails
26 mi
1.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
1,134 ac
1,129 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
65%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
1,821 ft
Barn Hill
What kind of outdoors town is Flat Top Mountain?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Flat Top Mountain have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Flat Top Mountain is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; park acres per resident rank highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Flat Top Mountain’s overall grade.
Conserved land10% of the land · typical TN town 1% · U.S. 4%A−Trails1.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (26 mi) · TN 0.2 · U.S. 0.4APark land1,129 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1,134 acres) · TN 10 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home65% of residents within a half mile of a park · TN 42% · U.S. 72%B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 92%
LessMore
Few Tennessee towns conserve much land (a typical one, 1%; the U.S., 4%), so Flat Top Mountain’s 10% is ahead of 90% of Tennessee towns, while its trails per square mile lead 98% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A+. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
The map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Soddy Creek Resource Management Area, with 6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Possum Creek Resource Management Area
Managed by Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation
454 acres1.2 mi of trail
CT - Possum Creek Gorge Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it
1,128 conserved acres
10% of Flat Top Mountain’s land. Who manages Flat Top Mountain’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Other state land1,128 ac
State Park · 1,128 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cumberland Trail State Park | Other state land | 1,128 | Open |
Things to do
6 places to go in Flat Top Mountain
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Waterfalls in Flat Top Mountain
Richey Ridge Falls 18In Possum Creek Resource Management Area
DirectionsScenic views in Flat Top Mountain
Jones Gap Road Overlook
DirectionsPeaks in Flat Top Mountain
Barn Hill1,821 ft elevation
DirectionsCampgrounds in Flat Top Mountain
Board Camp Creek CampsiteIn Soddy Creek Resource Management Area · Friends of the Cumberland Trail
DirectionsPlus 2 campgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
3 named trails
Named trails
Open to bikes · 3.4 miUnpaved · 11.1 mi
CT - Soddy Creek Gorge Trail (North)6.5 mi
CT - Possum Creek Gorge Trail1.3 mi
CT Connector0.1 mi
When to get out
The best walking months in Flat Top Mountain: April to June and August
NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 10.0 | 10.9 | 11.9 | 13.0 | 14.0 | 14.5 | 14.3 | 13.5 | 12.3 | 11.2 | 10.2 | 9.8 |
| High (°F) | 47 | 52 | 60 | 70 | 77 | 83 | 86 | 86 | 81 | 71 | 59 | 50 |
| Rain (in) | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.7 | 5.6 | 4.5 | 5.0 | 4.9 | 4.0 | 4.8 | 4.0 | 4.9 | 6.3 |
October is the driest month (4.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 86 °F). 6.3 inches fall in December, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 86 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Flat Top Mountain →
Next door
Flat Top Mountain and its neighbors
Flat Top Mountain has the second most mapped trails of the 3 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flat Top Mountain | 10% | 1.5 | 1,129 | 65% | A |
| Mowbray Mountain | 17% | 1.6 | 623 | 53% | A |
| Soddy-Daisy | 4% | 0.2 | 11 | 41% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Flat Top Mountain
Where can I hike in Flat Top Mountain?
The longest trail networks: Soddy Creek Resource Management Area, 6 miles; Possum Creek Resource Management Area, 1.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Flat Top Mountain is conserved land?
10% of its land, against a typical 1% for a Tennessee town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Flat Top Mountain’s trails?
Soddy Creek Resource Management Area and Possum Creek Resource Management Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Flat Top Mountain?
10,174 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Flat Top Mountain or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,134 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Flat Top Mountain have?
Ahead of 92% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Flat Top Mountain neighbors.
Share a tip
Sources
Where this page comes from
Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →