August 22, the day after the total solar eclipse in Nashville, I figured we would hang out close to Nashville and do something interesting, but my wife and daughter had a different idea. After having breakfast at the Pancake Pantry (recommended) in Nashville, we drove two hours southeast on Interstate 24 to the Chattanooga, Tennessee area. Lookout Mountain was the destination.
We expected to find hiking trails in the mountain, but ended up at Rock City instead. They had trails. But they also had a $20 per adult admission, so we considered carefully. Having seen part of Rock City from afar, I thought it would be a cool think to do so we dug out the Amex and paid the way in.
Definitely a tourist trap, it was still pretty cool. We followed the main path which led down a long stairway at first so I was a little concerned about coming back up. Complain complain, my foot was still recovering from an injury from a Phoenix hike a couple weeks back so I think I had a right to be concerned. But it was a great hour hike that felt like nothing because there was so much to see. Great overlooks, waterfalls, tight walkways through rock, rainbow halls, and more. And I do not even remember coming back up the hill to where we started.
At the end of our hour “hike”, we wound up at a wine booth with a little free tasting, then went through the gift shop. Overall, the entrance fee was the main expense.
Here is a little plaque that shows the seven states you can see from the overlook:
We also ended up riding the incline train down the mountain, then back up. We had a little Clumpies ice cream at the bottom waiting for the return train. The peanut butter and chocolate was really good.
Further reading: