Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ground lakes—silent, clear, and still—double every image like natural funhouse mirrors.
Above ground the park has a small collection of animals—including fallow deer, goats,
ducks, and peacocks.
5.
Cloudland Canyon State Park
Back on Lookout Mountain Parkway, you'll traverse the spine of Lookout Mountain along
Rte. 117, which zigzags eastward through woodlands on the way to Georgia. Beyond the
town of Cloudland, the parkway continues to press northward along Rte. 157, then turns
onto Rte. 136 for a short jaunt to Cloudland Canyon State Park. One of the region's finest
preserves, its 2,200 or so acres embrace a cluster of ravines and waterfalls. With elevations
that range from 800 to 1,900 feet, this is rugged terrain but well worth exploring.
Exhilaratingpanoramasofthehillsandhollowswillpreparesightseersforthegrandeur
thatawaitsatCloudlandCanyonitself,adeepcleftslashedintoshaleandsandstonebySit-
ton Gulch Creek. For a front-row seat, stop at the park's main picnic area.
6.
Point Park
The parkway heads northward along Rte. 189, which returns you to Rte. 157 a few miles
south of the Tennessee border. Once across the state line, the drive follows Rte. 210 to
the scenic loop that passes Point Park—a fitting climax to this journey along the length of
Lookout Mountain.
The ridge reaches its highest point here, cresting at 2,126 feet, and boasts a view to
match, with vistas of the Tennessee River gliding slowly past the city of Chattanooga.
On clear days you can also see portions of six other states: Alabama, Georgia, North
Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, and even Virginia. For a glimpse of the mountain's
interior, visit Ruby Falls, a watery plume that splashes down through a cave located more
than 1,000 feet underground. The hidden realm—an elevator will whisk you there—also
claims among its charms several subterranean chambers that are bejeweled with onyx as
well as with dripstone; when illuminated, the cave's walls shimmer with rainbowlike col-
ors.
Did you know…
Back in 1841, James Ellis moved his family to Alabama and began accumulat-
ingpropertyforfarmland,includingwhatisnowSequoyahCaverns.Theybuilt
alogcabinandaframehouse,whichisstillonthecampground.Aftergreatsuc-
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