With a name that includes “Archeological District,” you would expect to run into Indiana Jones during your visit to Moccasin Bend. However, like most of the Chattanooga area, it is mainly developed with businesses, including a mental hospital at the very tip (complex at the bottom in the photo). The undeveloped portion comprised of forest is now owned by the National Park Service and is part of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. This land is a recent addition (2003) and currently the only attractions to the public are two short trails. A visitor center and museum dedicated to the anthropological history of the area is planned for the future.
If you have been to Point Park and looked out over Chattanooga, you have seen Moccasin Bend, a peninsula bounded by the Tennessee River and shaped like an Indian moccasin. The peninsula has been inhabited since 10,000 B. C. It and Russell Cave National Monument are two of the most significant areas in the South for prehistoric human history.
Moccasin Bend saw its most recent, significant history during the Battle of Chattanooga. Adding to infamy, in 1838, Moccasin Bend was the site of the Cherokee Indian removal from the area to Oklahoma, commonly known as the Trail of Tears. The National Park Service just recently opened a new interpretive trail that follows the path that the Cherokee took across the peninsula to the Browns Ferry site where they were transported to the mainland. This trail is also a stop on the National Park Service’s Trail of Tears National Historical Trail.
Trails at Moccasin Bend
Browns Ferry Federal Road Trail (Trail of Tears)
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Last updated on July 5, 2024