our two recent trips to Chattanooga

1.) Biking along the riverfront was amazing. We rode from downtown to the Chickamauga dam– a nice 13-15 mile ride. It’s only $10 per day, but you have to dock the bike (briefly) every hour. (The app gives you details on location and availability.)

2.) If you’re into cars, I’d recommend the Coker Auto Museum and the Intl Towing/Recovery Museum (Chattanooga had the first tow truck and key innovators in the field). 

3.) If you’re into history and good views of the city, I’d recommend Point Park on top of Lookout Mountain ($10). Make sure to catch a tour by one of the guides (@11, 2, 5). If you’re really into the history of the battles, the “Battles of Chattanooga” show is worth the 30-minute narration and 3D topographical map on stage.  

4.) We saw the famous Chattanooga ChooChoo and walked through the Chattanooga Mkt on Saturday. Both were solid as you would expect.

Things we didn’t do, but were on the list:

1.) The Hunter Museum of Contemporary Art looked good (the outside art was impressive), but our friends and sons were not interested, so we didn’t go.  

2.) The Classic Arcade Pinball Museum is interesting but expensive ($20 or $16 if you look for coupons in tourist info), It’s all-you-can-play, but unfortunately, they don’t have an evening discount or the ability to play for an hour at a lower rate.  

3.) The Lookout Mtn Incline RR looked solid and takes you to the top of Lookout Mtn (within walking distance of Point Park if you want to combine it), but we’d already done one in Johnstown, PA.

4.) The Chickamauga/Chattanooga National Military Park is probably solid, if you’re into such things. But we did enough for our tastes with Point Park.  

5.) There should be some great hiking options. Lula Lake and Land Trust (careful to reserve a spot when they’re open) and the Rainbow Lake Trail @ Signal Mtn were on our list. But the weather both weekends was a combination of 90+ degrees and storm threats, so we stuck to biking.

6.) Raccoon Mtn Caverns looked good, but I couldn’t find a price on-line– and couldn’t imagine prioritizing it over Ruby Falls.

7.) Their AA baseball park looked nice.