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Downtown Outdoor Rentals: A Great Start for Your Own Adventure this Summer 
Night paddle on the Tennessee River

Recently, Knoxville has landed on many national lists as a top outdoor recreation destination.

If you find yourself interested, but inexperienced…or unsure of where to start…or both, rentals are a great place to get your feet wet (sometimes literally)! *Pricing, contact, and location info can be found at the end of this article.

Free Trolley Service

First of all, make life easy on yourself and take advantage of Knoxville Area Transit’s free trolley service! City parking garages are free on weekends and evenings, which means you can park in an easy-to-find location and then ride a trolley to where you need to go. (Visit www.katbus.com for info on trolley lines and times.)

Pace Bike Share

Or, take advantage of Pace, a first-of-its-kind dockless bike share service recently launched in partnership with Visit Knoxville. There are dozens of bike share stations scattered around town. Simply download the Pace bike share app, pick up a rental bike, and away you go!

When you’re finished using the bike, you don’t even have to return it to the original site where you checked it out. The app will tell you the nearest bike share station where you can lock it in and leave it. You can also lock bikes to any public bicycle rack. This is a really fun way to see the town for just $1 per 30 minutes.

Probably one of the fastest ways to get some outdoor enthusiast street cred in Knoxville is to try a stand up paddleboard (a.k.a. a “SUP”) on the Tennessee River (and then social media post it, of course!).

Rentals are now available from Billy Lush at the new dock on Volunteer Landing near the Outdoor Knoxville Adventure Center (and adjacent to the Star of Knoxville and Calhoun’s restaurant).

Volunteer Landing river dock

You also can rent kayaks, canoes, hydro bikes and beach cruiser bicycles at this site. There is currently a summer feature price of $12/hour for paddle rentals on weekdays.

If you’re looking for a more secluded paddle experience then you may want to start at Ijams Nature Center to enjoy the majestic beauty of a limestone quarry. The high rock walls of Mead’s Quarry provide a unique padding adventure. At this location, River Sports Outfitters offers a variety of rental paddling equipment.

Mead's Quarry Paddle

This is arguably one of local outdoor enthusiasts’ most treasured scenic locales, which can even offer a sighting of freshwater jellyfish in July! (Don’t worry, these tiny creatures won’t sting you!) River Sports also rents paddling equipment at the Ijams River Landing on the weekends, or you can put in your own canoe, SUP, or kayak there for free.

If you prefer land, River Sports Outfitters at Mead’s Quarry also provides mountain bike rentals for the nine miles of beginner and immediate bike trails at Ijams Nature Center, and road bikes and e-bikes for paved greenways at the nature center’s Visitor Center.

Both Billy Lush and River Sports Outfitters offer beginner classes. Once you’re comfortable, there’s lots of opportunities to go into full adventure mode — like with SUP Yoga Class or night paddles.

In other words, this summer is YOUR summer to seize the day and immerse yourself in Knoxville’s growing outdoor recreation scene! See below for info to make your plans today!

DOWNTOWN BIKE SHARE RENTALS
www.visitknoxville.com/plan-a-trip/pace-knoxville/
Rentals Provider: Pace Knoxville Bike Share
Download app for map of stations with access to 200 bicycles
First 30 minutes FREE for a new user
$1/half hour

VOLUNTEER LANDING
900 Volunteer Landing Lane
Rentals Provider: Billy Lush Brand
865-332-LUSH (5874)
Hours: Wed – Fri: 11am-8pm | Sat: 10am-10pm | Sun: 10am-7pm
*Weekday rentals starting at $12/hour

SUP/Single Kayak
$20/hour
$27/2 hours

Tandem Kayak/Canoe
$30/hour
$38/2 hours

Hydro-Bike
$20/hour
$27/2 hours

Beach Cruiser Bike
$16/2 hours

SUP Yoga Class - $25
Paddleboard 101 Class - $40
Private Instruction - $55

IJAMS NATURE CENTER - MEAD'S QUARRY
www.ijams.org
2915 Island Home Ave.
Rentals Provider: River Sports Outfitters
865-577-4717 ext. 110
Hours: Mon – Fri: 11am-7pm | Sat: 10am-7pm | Sun: 12pm-7pm

Canoe, Kayak, and Paddleboard Rentals
$12/hour

Mountain Bike Rentals
$35/half day
$50/full day

IJAMS NATURE CENTER - IJAMS RIVER LANDING
www.ijams.org
2915 Island Home Ave.
Rentals Provider: River Sports Outfitters
865-577-4717 ext. 110
Hours: Fri-Sun: 2pm-7pm*
*Note: If interested in renting boat for the River Landing during weekdays, need to rent at Mead’s Quarry and personally transport boat to Landing.

Canoe, Kayak, and Paddleboard Rentals
$20/2 hours
$40/half day

IJAMS NATURE CENTER - VISITOR CENTER
www.ijams.org
2915 Island Home Ave.
Rentals Provider: River Sports Outfitters
865-577-4717 ext. 110
Hours: Mon – Fri: 9am-5pm | Sat: 9am-5pm | Sun: 11am-5pm

Greenway Bike Rentals
$15/2 hours
$20/half day
$35/full day

E-Bike Rentals
$25/2 hours
Posted by On 13 July, 2018 at 5:20 PM