Cherokee National Forest
Managed by United States Forest Service
2,421 acres2.9 mi of trail
Chestnut Flats ConnectorHolston Mountain West TrailFurnace Branch Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 3.0C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Hunter
More than half of Hunter’s land is conserved: 60%
60% of Hunter’s land is conserved, about 2,441 acres. The biggest trail networks: Cherokee National Forest (2.9 mi). 2.9 miles of mapped trail cross Hunter, 0.5 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 36% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
60%
2,441 acres · of 6.4 sq mi of land
Trails
2.9 mi
0.5 per sq mi of land
Near a park
under 1%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Hunter?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Hunter have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Hunter is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Hunter’s overall grade.
Conserved land60% of the land · typical TN town 1% · U.S. 4%A+Trails0.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (3 mi) · TN 0.2 · U.S. 0.4BPark land0.0 acres of park per 1,000 residents (0 acres) · TN 10 · U.S. 13DParks close to home0% of residents within a half mile of a park · TN 42% · U.S. 72%D−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 36%
LessMore
Few Tennessee towns conserve much land (a typical one, 1%; the U.S., 4%), so Hunter’s 60% is ahead of 99% of Tennessee towns, while its trails per square mile lead 79% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B. 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 Cherokee National Forest, with 2.9 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
2,441 conserved acres
60% of Hunter’s land. Who manages Hunter’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Forest Service2,441 ac
National Forest · 2,441 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cherokee National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 2,441 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Hunter
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Hunter
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
3 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 2.3 mi
Chestnut Flats Connector1.1 mi
Holston Mountain West Trail1.0 mi
Furnace Branch Trail0.2 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
When to get out
The best walking months in Hunter: April, 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) | 9.9 | 10.8 | 11.9 | 13.1 | 14.1 | 14.6 | 14.4 | 13.5 | 12.4 | 11.2 | 10.2 | 9.7 |
| High (°F) | 46 | 50 | 58 | 69 | 75 | 82 | 84 | 84 | 79 | 69 | 58 | 49 |
| Rain (in) | 3.9 | 3.8 | 4.1 | 4.3 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 5.4 | 4.2 | 3.2 | 3.1 | 3.3 | 3.9 |
October is the driest month (3.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 5.4 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Hunter →
Next door
Hunter and its neighbors
Hunter has the second most mapped trails of the 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hunter | 60% | 0.5 | under 1 | under 1% | C+ |
| Elizabethton | 3% | 0.4 | 14 | 74% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Hunter
Where can I hike in Hunter?
The longest trail networks: Cherokee National Forest, 2.9 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Hunter is conserved land?
60% 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 Hunter’s trails?
Cherokee National Forest doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Hunter?
3,022 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Hunter or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 9 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Hunter have?
Ahead of 36% 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 Hunter 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 →