Lookout Mountain

As a kid, I remember family road trips through Tennessee and Georgia and the miles and miles of roadside signs advertising the Lookout Mountain attractions. “See Ruby Falls”, “See Rock City”, “America’s Most Amazing Mile”. The Rock City advertising was creatively painted on barns across the landscape. But we never stopped. For all my life the visual remembrance of these signs has haunted me. I’ve felt a great void in my life, something special that I was missing… until now.

Lookout Mountain is actually a mountain ridge at the northwest corner of Georgia, the northeast corner of Alabama, and along the southeastern Tennessee state line in Chattanooga. Historically, Lookout Mountain was the scene of the Battle of Lookout Mountain during the Civil War. But for years, Lookout Mountain has been the site for the area’s biggest tourist attractions.

The three co-marketed, but individually owned and operated, attractions are located in Chattanooga Tennessee and include Ruby Falls, Rock City and the Lookout Mountain Incline Railway. Yes, they are a huge tourist attraction and well over commercialized, but I was destined to fill this void in my life. Our mission was to visit all three. Mission accepted!

Lookout Mountain Incline Railway

Dubbed “America’s Most Amazing Mile” the Incline Railway takes you up a 72.7 grade to the highest point on Lookout Mountain. The cars are powered by two 100-horsepower electric motors on a counterbalance cable pulley system where the two cars work together. As one car descends, its weight helps pull the other car up the mountain, significantly increasing energy efficiency. It’s a fun, and a little intimidating, ride to the top where you can spend time at your leisure checking out the views of Chattanooga and the Tennessee River below, before your ride back down the mountain. It was a fun experience. Check!

Ruby Falls

Ruby Falls is the tallest underground waterfall open to the public. The “original” (lower) cave was used by military and the railroad and earlier by Native Americans. In 1928 Leo Lambert, a chemist and cave enthusiast, was drilling a 420-foot elevator shaft with the goal of reopening the cave. At 260 feet Lambert discovered a void and started crawling through an 18-inch-high passage for 17 hours before discovering the 145-foot underground waterfall. Today’s guided tour takes you down the glass-front elevator to the cave formed 200 to 240 million years ago. As you walk through the narrow passages, you witness the different rock formations along with stalagmites and stalactites. Also, along the way you get to watch a short film on the monitors in the cave. Need Wi-Fi? Yeah, they got that as well.

The tour culminates at the 145-foot underground waterfall, 1,120 feet below the surface of Lookout Mountain. There’s a set time to enjoy the waterfall as a lightshow commences. Again, it’s way over commercialized, but you can’t help being amazed as you stand in front of this incredible waterfall, underground in a cave! It’s spectacular, and the tour guides do a great job of making it fun and informative. Check!

Rock City

We may have saved the best for last – this place rocks! What started out in the 1920’s as a personal rock garden of Frieda and Garnet Carter, who added pathways and landscaping to the natural rock formations, turned into one of the country’s biggest tourist attractions when Rock City Gardens opened to the public in 1932. The attention to detail and how they effectively integrated pathways, bridges and various artifacts into this natural landscape is something special. I expected this to be a little cheesy and it was anything but. As you explore at your own pace, the pathways lead you in and out of narrow passageways and through caverns. The temperature changes dramatically and soothing music adds to the ambiance. There are stone bridges, water features and a long suspension bridge that takes you to a famous viewpoint called Lovers Leap.

The last section you come to is called Fairyland and is crafted with Disney-like precision inside of a natural cavern. You will see gnomes sporadically within the park but in Fairland the gnomes are all the original handcrafted collection of the Carters from the 1920’s. The storybook themes will put a smile on your face and a twinkle in your eye, no matter how young or old you are. Check, and mission complete!

Civil War History

While visiting Chattanooga there are many opportunities to visit civil war memorials and take in additional views from Lookout Mountain, and there’s no better place to do so than Point Park. This National Park Service facility memorialized the Battle of Chattanooga from its original battlefield high on top of Lookout Mountain overlooking Chattanooga and the Tennessee River. Walk the pathways, check out the amazing views and visit the small museum overlooking Moccasin Bend, a historic and picturesque bend in the Tennessee River.

Another location that combines Civil War history and a pretty amazing hike is Sunset Rock via the Cravens House Trail. At the trailhead on the ledge of Lookout Mountain is Craven House, a major focal point of the Civil War’s “Battle Above the Clouds” which served as a strategic observation post and headquarters for both Confederate and Union forces. There are many significant memorials on the grounds to visit as well.

The trail to Sunset Rock is a little over 3 miles and has some challenging spots but overall, not a very difficult hike. The payoff is the phenomenal views at the end of the trail. Apparently, this is a popular sunset spot, which if you’re doing that, I would recommend the shorter viewpoint trail. This could be a treacherous trail in the dark.

I feel both fulfilled and frankly a bit surprised after our Lookout Mountain visit. This was one of those items to check off the list, but I really didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did. I suspect the early March timeframe helped the experience with minimal crowds and it may not have been as enjoyable in peak season. I also didn’t expect the historical significance of the area in respect to the Civil War and the opportunities to explore that. We combined this visit with our Cloudland Canyon visit since the two are only about 30 minutes apart, making a great two for one deal.

Check out the rest of our pictures from Lookout Mountain.