A NOTE TO OUR READERS:
"Road Trip to Fall Color" is from the October 2004 issue of Southern Living. Because prices, dates, and other specifics are subject to change, please check all information to make sure it's still current before making your travel plans.
Curling past fields and farms, canyons and clouds, waterfalls and other wild wonders, the Lookout
Mountain Scenic Highway reveals some of the best fall color you'll see this season. The parkway
stretches for almost 100 miles along a spiny mountain ridge from Chattanooga to Gadsden, Alabama.
We've come up with a list of places you don't want to miss. Included are well-known sights such
as the famous Rock City Gardens and lesser-known areas such as Little River Canyon National
Preserve. We've separated the drive into three sections. Each could be done in a day, or you
could fit all three into a long weekend. Note: Because the parkway passes through three states,
highway numbers change, so pay close attention to your map. Expect to take a wrong turn or two.
Choose Chattanooga
The Chattanooga area contains the most attractions per mile of the scenic highway. We're hooked on
Rock City Gardens though. The views are jaw-droppingly spectacular, and the trails are well-kept
and clean. A new, more naturalistic overlook and path to the left of the main entrance opened
earlier this year.
Another spectacular vista awaits at Point Park on Lookout Mountain, a unit of Chickamauga and
Chattanooga National Military Park. Here's where to get the best view of Moccasin Bend, a
mile-wide curve in the Tennessee River.
For a delightful contrast to these mountaintop views, head down Tennessee State 148 to Reflection
Riding Arboretum & Botanical Garden, a 300-acre botanical garden showcasing native plants, and
the adjacent Chattanooga Nature Center. A 3-mile driving tour winds along dense woods, a horse
pasture and pond, a creek, and other natural beauties.
Watch the time. You don't want to miss the day's end viewed from the mountain (be there around
5 p.m.). Curl back up the road to Sunset Rock, just above Reflection Riding on the mountain, to
catch the sun's rays acting like a huge bellows blowing the coals of color to red-hot. You'll
trek 5 or 10 minutes to the overlook. From the rock outcropping, an astonishing panoramic view
spreads out in all directions.
Covenant College to Cloudland Canyon State Park
You might discover that the less traveled section of the parkway southwest to Gadsden gives you
more of what you came for: a real fall getaway. From Lookout Mountain, Georgia, you'll come first
to the mountaintop campus of Covenant College, a private, Presbyterian, four-year college sitting
on the mountain ridge.
We'd rather educate you about Cloudland Canyon State Park, about 18 miles south (the road becomes
Georgia State 136 on this stretch). The park spans a deep, tree-lined gorge cut into Lookout
Mountain by Sitton Gulch Creek. The main parking lot leads you right up to the rim of the gorge,
and a large picnic pavilion lets you savor the view. Hiking trails lead down to the creek and
waterfalls; it's a vigorous 20-minute walk.
