Living in a tourist destination city is a new experience for me; calling “Hill City” home means needing to know where to take visiting friends for the best views.
Rock City, of course, offers a spectacular view, but Rock City isn’t the only place to make visitors’ jaws drop.
For an easy stroll, there’s Point Park and Signal Point Park. Both have great views from opposite sides of the river within an easy walk. I have a special love of Point Park – the view seems to improve every time we go. As we make our way around the point, we look for familiar sites in downtown Chattanooga, get excited when Moccasin Bend comes into view, and then enjoy watching the sunset over Georgia until the rangers kick us out. It’s surprisingly entertaining.
I enjoy Signal Point as well, but I prefer it as a trailhead. That doesn’t stop us from going up there for the view from time to time. There’s a gazebo for picnics and access is free. But the really spectacular view is from Edward’s Point – it’s a fantastic six-mile hike (although better for those not allergic to poison ivy). Three more of my favorite easy-walk overlooks are Stone Door Overlook in South Cumberland State Park (a longer, but scenic drive), the trail around the parking lot at Cloudland Canyon and, close to home, the view from Stringer’s Ridge (which I hope will reopen soon). All of these offer short walks on paved trails to great views.
When visitors are up for something a little more strenuous, driving over to Craven’s House on Lookout Mountain and hiking to Sunset Rock provides a beautiful route through the woods, a little bit of a workout and all of it culminated by endless views from Sunset Rock.
The West Rim trail at Cloudland Canyon is another relatively easy hike of about five miles affording fantastic views of the canyon. Cloudland Canyon was a big surprise to me. I had no idea such canyons existed so close to Chattanooga.
If Cloudland was a surprise, Savage Gulf was an even bigger one. Hiking the North Rim Trail to Hobb’s Cabin makes for a series of great overlooks of the convergence of three gorges. If 16 miles is too much, there’s a day hike loop that includes several overlooks.
If you’re willing to walk a little, no overlook need be overlooked.