Pirate Voyage in your Hometown: Chattanooga’s Maclellan and Williams Islands in the Tennessee River

By Mason Edwards, The Chattanooga Times Free Press

Staff photo by Matt Hamilton / Maclellan Island

Chattanooga's river islands have been hunting camps, pasturelands, Prohibition party pads and ecological time capsules. But you won't find any signs pointing to them from I-24.

Accessible only by boat, Maclellan and Williams Islands are two of Chattanooga's most mysterious landmarks. Tucked between the bends of the Tennessee River, these wooded islands rise from the water like pages from an unfinished history book. Shaped by sediment, flow and time, they reveal stories of Indigenous land use, scientific discovery and modern-day conservation.

Maclellan Island, a paddle's distance from downtown, is an 18-acre wildlife preserve owned by the Chattanooga Audubon Society. One rare feature of the island is a small "rain shadow desert" created by the Veterans Memorial Bridge -- a microclimate caused by the structure blocking rainfall in certain areas, according to the Chattanooga Tourism Co.

The island has gone by several names over the years, including Ross's Landing Island and Chattanooga Island, before taking Robert J. Maclellan's name. It also offers visitors a rare chance to walk on land relatively untouched by development.

"We like to joke that we're an organization that owns an island and not a boat," says Emilee Null, the Chattanooga Audubon Society's marketing director. With limited resources, the nonprofit relies on creative, hands-on approaches to preserve the island's ecology, including managing invasive plants with goats, replanting native flora and leading public paddle tours.

Archaeological evidence places Indigenous activity on Maclellan Island as far back as 3,000 years ago. Ceramic shards, flint tools and other remnants suggest it was used primarily as a hunting and fishing camp during the Woodland Period. The organization's Education and Programming Coordinator, Ava Lowery, notes the rarity of such undisturbed river islands in the region. "It's one of the few places like this left," she says.

Maps and land records reveal a colorful past, including its rumored use as a site for Prohibition-era parties and its acquisition in 1917 by a group of prominent bluff-dwellers hoping to shut those parties down. The group included business leaders and professionals who lived along Bluff View. Among them was Maclellan, a banker, who eventually took full ownership.

By 1954, Maclellan donated the land to the Audubon Society, which has tried to protect the island from erosion since the 1990s. Boat traffic and river engineering wear away the shoreline, threatening both habitats and archaeological deposits. Last summer, goats cleared invasive brush, and now, volunteers are replanting streambanks with native vegetation.

Joshua Hodge, a physical geography lecturer at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, says both Maclellan and Williams Islands are rare examples of alluvial islands, formed over centuries by the slow buildup of sediment along river curves. "Rivers meander," he says. "And when the flow slows, it deposits sediment that eventually becomes land."

Downstream from Maclellan, Williams Island marks the beginning of the Tennessee River Gorge. At 500 acres, it's dramatically larger -- but just as underutilized. "Williams Island is an incredibly unique, special place that we want to share with more people," says Eliot Berz, executive director of the Tennessee River Gorge Trust. Managed under a no-cost lease with the state, the island is open to campers, birders and paddlers seeking a quieter side of the river. Be careful, though: One side of Williams Island has a stronger current than the other.

Like Maclellan Island, Williams Island has deep archaeological significance. Indigenous use of the island stretches back thousands of years, and today, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and the Muskogee Creek Nation are advising the River Gorge Trust on future land management to ensure their histories are preserved.

Visitors might spot wild turkeys, white-tailed deer, an occasional bobcat, or any of 300 resident cows on the island. Each spring, birders flock to the island for the "Woodcock Walk," a twilight event where the American woodcock performs its distinctive aerial mating dance.

Current restoration efforts aim to return parts of Williams Island to native grassland. Invasive plants like bush honeysuckle and Johnson grass are being removed using prescribed fire and mechanical clearing. "Fire, when done correctly, is not a bad thing for Williams Island -- it's actually essential for the ecosystem," Berz says.

The nearest public access points are at Coolidge Park upstream and Suck Creek Boat Ramp downstream, making the journey a commitment for casual paddlers. To improve access, a new boat ramp project is underway near Williams Island, spearheaded by the Tennessee River Gorge Trust in coordination with state and local partners. The ramp, expected to be completed by 2026, will make it easier for paddlers, researchers and campers to launch from the riverbank.

On Williams, eight free campsites are available by reservation. On Maclellan, a $5 suggested donation per visit supports conservation work, but overnight camping, which starts at $20, is by permit only.

While some see the islands as recreational spaces, Hodge sees them as historical accounts written into the earth, for now. A single paleoflood -- an extremely rare, catastrophic flood event that can reshape entire landscapes -- could one day alter the river's path and erase these islands from the map. "These are dynamic landforms," he says. "And they help us understand how the river works, past and present."

Learn more about Maclellan Island at visitchattanooga.com and Williams Island at trgt.org.