Bluff Trail on Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga Unit of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park
See the Chattanooga Hiking Trails web page for a trail map of the entire park.
When at the Chattanooga Unit of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, I was only able to do one hike on the west side of the mountain (Sunset Rock / Cravens House Loop), partly due to time, but also because to form any type of loop you are talking about nearly 10 or more miles of mountainous hiking. Even out-and-back trails that lead to something interesting, such as spring, are 5+ miles long (round trip), way too much time to spend seeing the same thing twice. I can, however, tell you the following:
When hiking the Bluff Trail to Sunset Rock, I missed my turn and hiked halfway to the Georgia state line. Continuing on the Bluff Trail past Sunset Rock gives you pretty much the same terrain and views as you get when hiking to Sunset Rock.
The Upper Truck and Lower Truck Trails are fairly level gravel roads at were once used as service roads. I did not hike the Skyuka Trail, the other major trail on the west side, but from the map I am guessing that it is similar to the Truck trails, only an actual trail, not a gravel road. The Bluff, Truck trails, and Skyuka Trail form relatively level switchbacks up the mountains, whereas the ends connecting the trails together are going to be difficult up/down hikes.
To the best of my knowledge, there are no Civil War sites on these trails, thus making them only good for exercise and adding nothing significant to a battlefield experience.
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Last updated on July 5, 2024
