While you’re at the laboratory….Enjoy the land of outstanding colors of the fall foliage, moderate winters with just enough snow, and the glorious spring fairyland of azalea and dogwood blooms.  Visit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for a day trip, hike the nature trails, and camp next to bubbling streams and serene lakes.  Participate in the University of Tennessee sports, cultural events, and performances.  Or just take your favorite book, sunglasses, and folding chair to one of the Oak Ridge parks along Melton Hill Lake and read away the afternoon under a spreading oak while rowers glide by practicing their rhythmic strokes for tomorrow’s competition.

Team with the many other program participants on site at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to white-water raft, play volleyball, soccer, tennis and golf, bridge or chess.  Visit historical houses and outstanding museums in Knoxville and the East Tennessee and Western Carolina areas.  Weekend in Atlanta to watch the Braves or shop.  These are just a few of the many options for leisure time while conducting research at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.  And, in the other directions, it’s not far to the Tennessee state capital of Nashville and the horse country of Lexington, Kentucky.

Enjoy the many recreation opportunities available in Oak Ridge itself.  Oak Ridge has a 14-screen movie theater, a small mall, one of the largest outdoor swimming pools in the nation, a civic center with exercise trails, exercise and weightlifter’s clubs, coffee houses with weekend entertainment, a library, a community playhouse, miniature golf, tennis courts, soccer fields, and a bowling alley.