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Recreation, Shopping & Entertainment
RECREATION, SHOPPING
Over 400 classic cars filled Downtown Greeneville for the Sundown on Depot car show that ran concurrently with the 2021 Iris Festival. The event raised $8,500 for The Holston United Methodist Home for Children.
As Greeneville and Greene County continue to move forward as a thriving, progressive community, its leaders focus on maintaining its natural surroundings of rolling hills, mountains and rivers while continuing to lead the community into the future with a broad range of creative outlets for cultural pursuits. In addition, a strong emphasis is placed on the economic importance of developing its retail growth to help attract tourism dollars.
Recreationally, the community’s wealth knows no bounds with four golf courses and six county, city and state parks. Within Greene County, 45 miles of the Nolichucky River and 25 miles of the Appalachian Trail in the Cherokee National Forest provide opportunities for hiking, biking and horseback riding, as well as camping, fishing, swimming, white water rafting and picnicking.
Located within an hour’s drive, numerous lakes also provide a variety of activities like boating, fishing, swimming and skiing.
In the Fall of 2021, construction began on a new sand volleyball complex at Hardin Park. The complex will be home to six courts, restrooms, a concession stand, storage rooms, and a coaches’ meeting room. The project is expected to be completed in the Spring of 2022.
The Greene County Range and Firearms Sports Complex opened on Hal Henard Road in April of 2019. The Range features pistol and rifle ranges, trap, skeet, and long-range targets, and is an ideal venue for individual shooters, hunters, beginners, advanced
AND ENTERTAINMENT
Local favorites, Nick Fillers and Bandit Bridge played on the Main Stage at the 2021 Iris Festival.
shooters, competition shooters, and/or shooting teams.
The city demolished the former EastView Pool in 2016 for a 3,200 square foot splash pad playground with a 2,900 square foot wet zone. Funding for the project came through a $125,000 grant from the Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation. The splash pad celebrated its grand opening in June 2017.
After being awarded a $425,000 grant from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, the city opened a new sports complex on Hal Henard Road in September of 2013. The Greeneville/Greene County Sports Complex includes two multi-purpose ball fields, a pavilion with restrooms, a concession stand and a covered area with picnic tables.
Bordering the ball fields is a tennis complex which features six hard-surface courts, two clay-surface courts, an office, tennis shop and restrooms. The complex is unique in that it is the only one in eastern Tennessee that has hard surface and clay courts.
The shopping and dining opportunities in the community are varied – from antiques to clothing on the retail side, to foods such as Mexican, Italian, Japanese and Chinese. Over the course of the past several years, new restaurants, including Nova’s Sushi Bar & Grille, Chick-Fil-A, Aubrey’s, Fatz, Applebee’s, Zaxby’s, Bojangles, Cook Out and the Gondolier Italian Restaurant have added variety to the local menu. From locally-owned small businesses to familiar favorites, shopping is abundant with Hobby Lobby, Marshalls, Five Below, and Ross: Dress for Less opening in the Greeneville Commons in 2019.
The community’s close proximity to numerous larger towns makes it possible for residents to enjoy an even wider selection of merchandise and menus, as well as cultural pursuits like the International Storytelling Festival, educational trips to locations such as the fivemillion-year-old Gray Fossil Site, and sporting events such as University of Tennessee football and basketball and Bristol Motor Speedway races, which are all accessible within an hour. Greene County has its own race track named the Volunteer Speedway, which is advertised as the “World’s Fastest Dirt Track.”
The 1,150-seat state-of-the-art Niswonger Performing Arts Center at Greeneville High School presents nationally-known artists in concert and theatre productions on a regular basis.
Capitol Theatre, a recently-renovated historic venue, offers a wide variety of productions including music, live theatre, movies, and comedy.
For information on local recreational activities, community events, lodging, restaurants and shopping, including convention sites and arrangements, contact the Greene County Partnership and its Tourism Department.
RECREATION, SHOPPING AND ENTERTAINMENT
Major events in the community include:
The Greene County Partnership’s annual Iris Festival is held each year in May. The festival, which is celebrating its 27th anniversary in 2022, continues to set records with several thousand in attendance. The event was recognized regionally with the Northeast Tennessee Tourism Association’s Pinnacle Award for “peak performers.” Also, the festival was named one of the top 20 May events in the southeast by the Southeast Tourism Society. During the two-day show, guests enjoy all types of quality arts and crafts, a food court, continuous entertainment on two stages, a woodcarver competition and show, Sundown on Depot Car Show and the Miss Iris Festival Pageant.
Held each year in July, the Greene County Fair features agriculture and arts and crafts exhibits and wellknown entertainers, drawing thousands of visitors.
The Andrew Johnson Bank Ladies’ Classic has been recognized by USA Today as one of the top high school girls’ basketball tournaments in the nation. Held the week after Christmas for the past 33 years, the tournament attracts teams from across the nation for four days of intense competition.
These and other events, along with the county’s numerous historic sites, have helped to draw hundreds of thousands of visitors from across the United States and from numerous foreign countries to Greene County.
Visitors to Greene County, and its residents, can fill their leisure time with an unlimited number of recreational activities. Camping, swimming, tennis, fishing and golfing are among the many activities that can be enjoyed at the four local parks.
Kinser Park, owned by the county, has 132 campsites and several tent sites and bathroom facilities. The park also features picnic facilities, a miniature golf course, five ball fields, tennis courts, basketball courts, volleyball net, horseshoe pits, swimming pool, pool tables, an arcade and children’s playgrounds. In addition, a boat ramp is available for fishing in the Nolichucky River.
Hardin Park and Veterans’ Memorial Park are both city parks. Hardin Park is a 55-acre public park maintained by the Town of Greeneville. The park features an outdoor pool, picnic areas, six pavilions, all-inclusive playground, two regular playgrounds, a large fishing pond, skate park, four ball fields, and basketball, volleyball and tennis courts.
Veterans’ Memorial Park, is a five-acre park located on Forest Street and designed to attract senior citizens with a picnic area, a pavilion, a memorial garden, a walkway and a Wells Fargo-sponsored “Gamefield” exercise system for seniors. A memorial has been built in the lower half of the park to honor all war veterans from Greene County.
Greene County’s state park is the David Crockett Birthplace State Park, which claims the site of frontiersman David “Davy” Crockett’s birth. With 105 acres in the Limestone area, the park features a Crockett museum and a monument in his memory and hosts a Crockett Day Celebration and Crockett Christmas each year. In addition, there is a modern campground with pull-through RV/campsites, tent sites, bathhouses, a picnic area and shelters, a boat ramp, hiking trails, a playground and fishing areas.
The Cherokee National Forest area provides opportunities for hiking, camping, fishing, rafting and other outdoor pursuits. Paint Creek, Horse Creek, Old Fort, Houston Valley, Round Mountain and Round Knob are a few of the most popular areas in the county.
Recreational facilities in the community include a center on Bernard Avenue, which has a gymnasium, meeting rooms and offices for the Greeneville Parks and Recreation Department, and a playground and gymnasium at the Boys & Girls Club on West Church Street. Legion Field on Summer Street is a baseball park also used for local recreational programs.
Both Mosheim and Tusculum maintain their own parks, which offer a variety of activities such as a walking track, pavilions, soccer field and playgrounds.
