Chattanooga and Surrounding Attractions

Does the medley of Glenn Miller’s song, "Chattanooga Choo Choo," ever enter you mind? And then you automatically think of Chattanooga, Tennesee? Well, why just have this destination as a figment of your imagination when you can mosey down to Chattanooga.

Chattanooga is a southern jewel. It has the beautiful mountains, the Lookout Mountain attractions, and the infamous Chattanooga Choo Choo. Therefore, whether you are a natural wonder enthusiast, a historical buff, or just a contemporary traveler, you will devour this city’s attractions.

My partner and I, both natural wonder enthusiasts, went to Chattanooga because of the Lookout Mountain sites. The natural wonders at Lookout Mountain we viewed were Rock City (which has its enormous ancient rock formations, gardens with over 400 native plant species, and the panoramic view of seven states) and Ruby Falls. The Falls is 145 feet, with 1,120 feet underground. It is the largest underground waterfall in America. It is also illuminated in the pitch darkness of the cavern (it has various colors of lights for the illumination). All of these sites were wonderful to see.

In addition, we went to Chattanooga because I am a history buff. Therefore, we saw the vintage Chattanooga Choo Choo train and historical sites, such as Lookout Mountain Battlefield/Point Park. The Chattanooga Choo Choo was interesting. It represented the Golden Age of Railroading. And the Lookout Mountain Battlefield/Point Park were fascinating to tour, too. They both had significant Civil War history, such as most of the fighting between the Union and Confederate soldiers happen on the side of Lookout Mountain, and Point Park has a lot of monuments of the soldiers who died in the area.

When we went to see the Chattanooga Choo Choo train, there were also other attractions at the Chattanooga Choo Choo Complex. This is a 30-acre vacation and convention complex. And at the Holiday Inn, the suites are antique train cars. In addition, you can view the gardens and fountains present there. There are also numerous stores, such as an ice-cream shop, an arcade, and a photo studio (you can dress in vintage clothing and get an old-time picture taken). Along with this, there are trolley and horse-drawn carriage rides available. Lastly, you can eat in an old train car. Hence, there is something for everyone.

Quick Tips:

I have some suggestions/tips when you visit Chattanooga and the surrounding attractions.

One, you should select a hotel near Lookout Mountain. This is because you will be closer to the Lookout Mountain attractions and some hotels near there provide you with marvelous sites to view.

Two, enjoy the historical sites. You shouldn’t neglect our American history. This city has so much to offer. You should take your children to the Lookout Mountain Battlefield and have them tour Point Park. This is so they can view such things as the monuments and the cannon (sometimes they even have reenactments of the how life was for Civil War solders and the battle that happened there).

Three, you should take the Lookout Mountain Incline Railway ride. Even though I am scared of heights, I am glad I took the ride. Once you get to the top of the mountain, you see lovely homes, spectacular sites of the Chattanooga region, and historical sites like the Lookout Mountain Battlefield and Point Park, and there are several shops.

Lastly, if you wonder if you can bring your pet to Rock City Gardens, you definitely can. This place allows that. We brought our beagle.

Best Way To Get Around:

The best way to get around in Chattanooga is by car. This is because the attractions I aforementioned are not all centrally located. One example of this is the Tennessee Valley Railroad.

Just down Lookout Mountain from Rock City is Ruby Falls. It is a 145-foot waterfall which is 1,120 feet underground. Ruby Falls is the largest underground waterfall in America.

You have to take an elevator down 260 feet to get you to the Ruby Falls Cave. After this, you walk a half-mile and stop and look at various stalactites before you see the waterfall. Once you get to Ruby Falls, you are in pitch darkness. Then all of sudden, there is an illumination of the falls. You will see various colors like ruby and plum blue highlighting the Falls and a reflecting pool. It is a spectacular view because of this, and it funnels 300 gallons of water per minute into a subterranean river.

In addition to the geological formations, the caverns, and the Falls, this place has a 10-story observation tower and Ruby Falls Fun Forest for children. Along with this, it can be considered a historical site as well. A section (off-limits to vistors) of another cave below Ruby Falls was supposedly utilized as a Confederate hospital, and another relic is Andrew Jackson’s signature etched into a rock down there.

Many believe that the name for the Falls, Ruby, was given to it because of the color ruby that illuminates it. This is not so. Instead, the man that discovered it, Leo Lambert, named the Falls after his wife Rube. Therefore, the Falls was named "Ruby Falls".

We really enjoyed this tour. We were fortunate because we only had about 15 people in our group. The caverns, the geological formations and Ruby Falls were all intriguing to view. The only thing that was annoying was that we were told by our guide to "hug" the sides of the caves so another group could get out.

The best advice I can give you for this tour is come right when it is opens or go just before it closes. In this way, you have a smaller tour group. This in turn will provide you longer time to view all the natural wonders. In addition, from what I was told by other tourists, the guides prefer smaller groups and thus will be in better spirits giving it.

The directions to Ruby Falls from downtown Chattanooga is as follows: Take Broad Street south and remain on it. You will go through several traffic lights. Then you proceed to the Railroad underpass. Then Broad Street becomes Highway 41. You then continue on Hwy 41 about 0.25 – 0.5 mile and you take the ramp on the left side of the Hwy labeled Ruby Falls.

A Ruby Falls ticket for adults is $12.95, and for kids, 3-12 is $5.95. But if you purchase a combo (includes both Ruby Falls and Rock City), an adult ticket is $24, and a child 3-12 is $12. And if you purchase a combo that includes Ruby Falls, Rock City, and the Incline Railway, an adult’s ticket is $33, and a child's ticket is $16.50.

Rock City is another attraction of Lookout Mountain. It is actually located in Georgia, about six miles from Chattanooga. It is on top of Lookout Mountain. This attraction has hosted more than 30 million visitors, since its opening in 1932 by the Carter family. It has a 4,100-foot (1.2km) walking trail which winds through this natural wonder of enormous rock formations, caves and rich gardens. And from its highest point (the end of the cliff, called Lover’s Leap) you are supposed to be able to view the borders of seven states: Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. In addition, it has the other following attractions: Grand Corridor, Needle’s Eye, Deer Park, Swing Along Bridge, Fat Man’s Squeeze, Blarney Stone, and a 1,000-ton Balanced Rock . And it also has Fairyland Caverns and characters Rocky and his friends (which consists of the following characters: gnome/elf, a rabbit, and three pigs) for the children. Then there are gnome statutes all over this place.

We thought Rock City’s attractions were all marvelous; however, we did have our favorites. Our favorites were Swing Along Bridge, Fat Man’s Squeeze, and Lover’s Leap.

The Swing Along Bridge is way above the trees. It is 180 feet long. It has breathtaking scenery, but crossing it is difficult for some people like me. I had to take baby steps to get across, and I never looked down at the gorge. It does swing when other people come across it, while you are crossing or when there are wind currents.

Lover’s Leap is an interesting rock formation attraction. It is because of its panoramic view on the tip of it and its folklore. If you walk to the end of it, you will see the borders of seven states. Then, if you continue to walk on the trail, you will see the seven-states flag court (it is recognition to the seven states that were seen at Lover’s Leap). As far as the folklore goes, two feuding Indian tribes had a member from each fall in love with each other. They ran off together, but soon the young brave was captured and supposedly thrown off the tip of Lover’s Leap. Then the brave’s distraught lover threw herself over the same cliff.

The Fat Man’s Squeeze is part of the trail where you have to try to squeeze through enormous boulders to continue the trail. This may be difficult for bigger folks but most people can squeeze through. It also has a legend. The local gnomes used to have meetings there until they realized that humans could squeeze through, then they retreated deep in the woods.

The cost of an adult combo ticket (includes Ruby Falls and Rock City) is $24 and a child's (3-12) ticket combo is $12. But if you desire to see all three Lookout Mountain Attractions--Ruby Falls, Rick City and Incline Railway--an adult ticket is $33, and a child's (3-12) ticket is $16.50.

Lookout Mountain Battlefield and Point Park is located on top of Lookout Mountain. Point Park was built in 1905 to commemorate the "Battle Above the Clouds". What is interesting to note is that most of the Civil War fighting occurred on the side of the mountain and not inside the Park. The Park has a lot of monuments of the soldiers who died in the area. There is also a New York Peace Memorial that has a union solder and a confederate one shaking hands. Also, the Ochs Museum, in the park, possesses Civil War memorabilia from the surrounding area. It has a soldiers exhibit that is pretty intriguing and an exhibit that shows the dedication of this National Military Park. Lastly, the Craven House (it was used by both sides as a lookout and headquarters, during the Civil War) is part of this park. This is where most of the heaviest fighting happened.

My partner, Sharon, and I liked the visitor’s center the most. It had some interesting things to do there. One of these was being able to view James Walker’s painting, "The Battle Above the Clouds", and then listening to an audio program that describes it. The painting was marvelous in displaying the reality of the war (it displayed the band of mist and fog that was around the mountain,which assisted the Union Army to drive the Confederates from their position and then the Union Army gained control of the city). It was Walker's eyewitness account of this battle.

Point Park has also several trails to hike or walk. They vary in being easy to extremely difficult. They also vary in time it takes to hike or walk it (from 1-3.5 hours). It doesn’t matter what trail you take because you will have fantastic beauty to inhale and a lot of wildlife to see. You can also purchase souvenirs here. There are a variety of shops to do so.

When we were here, we were fortunate to view a reenactment of how a solder’s life was during the Civil War. There were men and women dressed in the style of the Civil War era. We took some pictures of this. They showed us items such as cooking utensils they had back then and what personal items the soldiers would have with them. They also shot off the vintage guns that had the rancid smell of gun powder.

The cost to get in the park is $3. I highly recommend this park for everyone. The Civil War enthusiasts will devour the history here, the nature enthusiasts will adore the wildlife viewed here, and the people who like to hike will enjoy the terrain to hike here.

One of Lookout Mountain’s attractions is the Incline Railway. I recommend this trip for people who aren’t afraid of heights and who don’t get sick easily. It is a scary train ride but worth the teeth-clinching experience.

This train has been climbing up Lookout Mountain since 1895. At that time, it has asserted that it is the steepest passenger train in the world. It possesses panoramic views because of its maximum grade of 72.7 percent gaining an overall altitude of almost 1,500 feet (or 450 meters).

Once the train takes you to the top of Lookout Mountain you are able to tour other attractions. These are the following: lovely, expensive homes, shops and historical sites like the Lookout Mountain Battlefield, Point Park, Cravens House, etc. Therefore, this train ride provides more than just breathtaking views of Chattanooga landscape. It allows a visitor to see the other attractions on Lookout Mountain.

After disembarking from the train, you could visit the Tennessee Civil War Museum that is in the same location, except it is at the bottom of the mountain. There are exhibits there that are created by Smithsonian designers and films made by History Channel documentarians. This museum has a million-dollar collection of artifacts and authentic letters/journals that are firsthand accounts of the lives of soldiers and their loved ones during the Civil War era.

The cost of an adult combo attraction ticket (includes Ruby Falls, Rock City and the Incline Railway) is $33, and if you buy a child’s (age 3-12) combo ticket, the cost is $16.50.

Being the historical buff I am (I almost double-majored in history), I wanted to see the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum and take a steam train ride. Although it has two depots (East Chattanooga and Grand Junction Station), the main one is at Grand Junction. This is also where the museum is. This is a great family attraction and it represents the Golden Age of railroading. This ride and museum can especially be enjoyed by former railroad workers and railroad enthusiasts.

The TVRM has even dubbed itself has the "Tennessee Valley’s Rolling Machine", since it is the largest operating historic railroad in the South and is the home for the operational 1952 steam locomotive.

The TVR offers a variety of rides such as the Missionary Ridge Local (a fifty minute tour, that goes through a Civil War Era Tunnel), Chickamauga Turn (a four hour roundtrip ride to Chickamauga, Georgia) Dixie Land Excursions (a day vintage train ride on selected weekends, such as during the turning of foliage) and the Winter Polar Express Ride to Chattanooga (has an on-train visit from Santa for the children).

When my partner and I went here, we selected to take the Missionary Ridge Local Ride. It consisted of riding the rail of forty acres of track, originally laid down, during the Civil War. This includes four bridges and going through a Civil War Ear tunnel. After getting to the East Depot, you disembark to view the locomotives rotate on a giant turntable in order to go on the return trip. While this takes some time, a guide will take you to the restoration and maintenance shop.

After returning from our tour, we got a chance to explore the historic trains which are located in front of the station. We saw sleeper cars, office cars, dining cars and a caboose. Some of these allow you to enter them. We took a lot pictures here. For you movie buffs, they have a 1924 Pullman used by Marilyn Monroe in the movie called "Some Like It Hot".

I highly recommend this attraction for three reasons. One, this rail experience and the museum grounds is very family oriented. Besides having the things I aforementioned, it has a deli too. You can dine with your family inside or outside. Two, it has so much history attached to it. And lastly, it is for the budget-minded individuals. An adult ticket for our ride was only $12.50 a person, and a child’s ticket (3-12) was $6.50.

Have you heard the catch-phrase known in the South? If not, here it is: "It’s a train; it’s a song; it’s a hotel!" This pretty much describes what the Chattanooga Choo Choo is if you claim the imposter engine (the one with the name Chattanooga scrawled on it) as the Chattanooga Choo-Choo train. According to historian Alan Walker, "There has never been a train with this name." He added that Glenn Miller’s famous jazz song was referring to an imaginative train journey from New York to Tennessee, and there are no original steam engines preserved that ever traveled such a route. Therefore, the Chattanooga Choo-Choo, now on display is instead the same type of engine that ran on the rail stretch from Cincinnati to Chicago for the first time on March 5, 1886.

Along with this train at the Chattanooga Choo-Choo complex, there are railroad cars remodeled as Holiday Inn’s hotel suites. In addition, the old ticket office now is the hotel’s reception area and it claims to have the world’s largest free standing dome. And the railroad carriage suites are supposed to be spacious if you compare them to Amtrak’s sleepers.

When Sharon and I toured this complex, we really thought it was a nice attraction with the hotel, gardens and fountains, the shops, the restaurants, and of course, the vintage engine. But what we ended up doing besides window shopping was going to the Arcade and playing air hockey and dining at the restaurant called the Silver Diner. This is a '50s-look place that serves you pizza in a diner car. It is really cute for kids to see. We even had our waiter take a picture of us there.

This complex has a lot to offer a visitor. It is a 30-acre vacation and convention complex. And as mentioned before, you can sleep aboard an antique train car. In addition, you can view the gardens and fountains. You can shop at the numerous stores. There are also trolley and horse-drawn carriage rides available. Along with this, there is a photo shop (you can get your picture taken, dressed in vintage clothing) and an arcade to enjoy. Lastly, you can dine in an old train car. Therefore, there is something for everyone here.

The Chattanooga Choo-Choo Complex is open 8am to 10pm daily.