Chattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga, TN, is the third most populous city on the Tennessee RiverLine, sitting right on the banks of the river roughly along miles 450-475.
It’s become a very popular destination for tourists, beloved for its humble Southern charm, proximity to world-class outdoor recreation opportunities, unique attractions, historic importance, appreciation of the arts, and much more.
Visit Chattanooga!
Booming Tourism
Chattanooga has become a model city in recent decades for its success attracting outdoor recreation enthusiasts, as well as fans of art, history, and food. Now offering outstanding metropolitan and natural amenities, Chattanooga has undergone a complete transformation since industrial activity in the area led to it being named the most air-polluted city in the country in the 1960s.
Railroads and river travel have always been cornerstones of the city’s identity, a fact that is embraced by several of the city’s top attractions, including the Tennessee Aquarium and the historic Chattanooga Choo Choo complex.
The Tennessee Aquarium opened in 1992 atop a bluff overlooking the Tennessee River, and it has been one of Chattanooga’s signature attractions since. As a non-profit focused on conservation and education, it has proven to be not only a fun visit for locals and travelers, but a key contributor in ecological research and species preservation.
Split into two large exhibits, the Tennessee Aquarium features the River Journey exhibit, once the largest freshwater aquarium in the world, and the Ocean Journey exhibit, which was added in an impressive 2005 expansion. The River Journey features tons of local species, including everything from darters to the fan-favorite river otters, as well as housing freshwater dwellers from around the world including a unique collection of “River Giants.”
The Ocean Journey features some of the aquarium’s top attractions, including sharks, penguins, jellyfish, the Tropical Cove and a butterfly garden. The IMAX theater at the aquarium also hosts screenings of immersive educational films as well as Hollywood blockbusters.
The Chattanooga Choo Choo is a repurposed train depot from the early 20th Century, which now features shops, an arcade, and places to eat, drink, and relax. Visitors can even stay in train cars that were transformed into hotel rooms. Its inviting community spaces have made it a staple in the city since it was saved by a fan of the structure and the Glenn Miller Orchestra song, “Chattanooga Choo Choo” – the first record ever to earn gold certification.
Providing even more niche homages to its transportation heritage, Chattanooga is also home to the world’s only International Towing & Recovery Museum, and the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum.
Chattanooga is increasingly gaining traction as one of the best cities in the Southeast for foodies. An extensive list of cuisines are represented on the city’s food scene, from food-as-art fine dining to humble meat-and-threes.
Drinks and live music are never hard to find either at Chattanooga’s countless bars, with concerts happening nightly all over the city. One of its most famous venues, the Tivoli Theatre, is both historic and gorgeous inside-and-out, and showcases national touring acts including Broadway performances, stand-up comedy, and touring musicians.
Its lineup of festivals throughout the year has something for everyone, too, including the Tennessee Whiskey Festival and 3 Sisters Bluegrass Festival.
Chattanooga proudly offers plenty of ways to go out and enjoy visual art as well. The Hunter Museum of American Art overlooks the Tennessee River from a 90-foot bluff, and its three structures–each built in a different period in American history–showcase works from Colonial times all the way up to the present. More than just plain walls and paintings, the museum features a wide range of mediums from fashion, to sculpture, to decorative arts, photography, mixed media, and more.
Several other galleries dot the Chattanooga landscape, each with its own mission and style. Annual festivals like the Incline Art Crawl also offer opportunities to see what the local scene is all about.
Getting Outside
Outdoor recreation is a staple of Chattanooga culture, to say the least. In fact, Chattanooga was named as America’s first National Park City, only the third city in the world to earn the honor! Its position on the Tennessee River in one of the most unique geological regions in the world means visitors have no shortage of waterways, mountains, valleys, waterfalls, bluffs, valleys, and hollows to explore.
According to Outdoor Chattanooga, there are more than 150 miles of hiking trails within a 15-minute drive of downtown. Lookout Mountain is one of the most famous attractions around the region, and there are tons of trails that line its path and connect to different historic and natural sites you won’t see anywhere else.
Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park is another popular destination to find multi-use paths of varying difficulties, and it also offers educational programs, guided tours, climbing experiences, and much more.
Paddling is a major driver of tourism to Chattanooga as well, as its location is surrounded by world-class water trail experiences, whether adventurers prefer whitewater rapids or leisurely glides along flat waters.
Ross’s Landing, yet another naturally beautiful place with historic significance, is a region-wide favorite put-in, just across the Tennessee River from Coolidge Park. The park offers gorgeous views of Chattanooga’s iconic bridges and multiple spots from which paddlers can launch their journeys. It is also home to a 130-year-old carousel, which features animals handmade by a local artisan family.
There’s no shortage of great places to rock climb or boulder near Chattanooga, including the unique Walnut Wall, which overlooks the Tennessee River and offers a novel experience for even the most seasoned rock-scalers. Both indoor and outdoor climbing experiences await all over greater Chattanooga, in fact, Travel and Leisure named climbing in Chattanooga one of the best adventure experiences in the entire U.S. in 2023.
Autumn leaves are also a premier attraction for Chattanooga, and people come from all over the country to see the leaves change and fall from the city’s stunning and walkable vantage points.
The Civil War in Chattanooga
After Tennessee seceded from the Union in 1861–despite strong Northern loyalties in the eastern portion of the state–it wasn’t long before a major incident demonstrated locals’ warryness of the Confederacy.
Anti-Rebel sentiments were famously put into action during the Great Locomotive Chase on April 12, 1862 which saw train hijackers hurtling towards Chattanooga trying to destroy every bridge they passed over in hopes of quickly and severely handicapping the Confederacy. Major destruction of the bridges was thwarted not by the Confederate pursuants on the rail line, but by light rain in the area and a lack of supplies in the conspirators’ moments of greatest need.
Six of the surviving hijackers were given the first Medals of Honor ever awarded by the United States, and ultimately 19 of “Andrew’s Raiders” (nicknamed after the incident’s orchestrator, James Andrews) earned the distinction. The incident is one of the most famous episodes in all of American history, made even more legendary by Disney’s depiction of the day’s events in a 1954 feature film inspired by and named after the chase.
The Civil War brought difficult times to the people of Chattanooga. The city lost roughly half of its residents between 1861-1865 because of migration out of the city, illness, starvation, and collateral damage. Wartime activity in the area ramped up in 1863 with a bang before a very anxious lull.
The North was focused on seizing control of the city from the very start of Confederate occupation, knowing it was a key transportation hub for trains and boats heading in all directions. High-ranking Southern officials took their pick of homes around Chattanooga, while soldiers camped in the city’s dusty, worn-in streets. The streets often turned into a muddy mess during 1893’s unusually frequent rainy and cold days.
Southern occupation lasted through the summer without disruption until Sunday, August 23, 1863, when a Union cannonball shot from Ross’s Landing disrupted church services and incited panic in the streets.
The South did not lose Chattanooga that day, but it was a successful and deceptive play by the North, who ultimately invaded the city from the opposite direction a few weeks later. Chattanooga was overtaken by Union forces without a shred of resistance, as Southern forces had evacuated the city to meet the Union army elsewhere.
“Streams of Union soldiers, the first we had seen, dressed in blue, came pouring in,” Rev. Thomas Hooke McCallie (1837-1912) is quoted as saying during the silent siege. “Not a child was harmed, not a woman insulted, not a man was killed. It was the triumph of civilization and Christianity.”
The famous Battle of Chickamauga was fought 12 miles from Chattanooga on September 18, 1863, with both armies sharing a goal: to take control of the city. Confederate General Braxton Bragg, assisted by General James Longstreet, launched a blinding assault on Northern encampments along Chickamauga Creek, repelling Union forces.
Though it was one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War with more than 30,000 casualties combined, this victory for the South would not last for long. The Confederate army let its guard down shortly thereafter, allowing for the North to come in and win over Chattanooga through the Battles of Orchard Knob, Lookout Mountain, and Missionary Ridge. These battles would collectively become known as the Battle (or Battles) of Chattanooga. Though the fatality counts were significantly lower than they were at Chickamauga, the decisiveness was much greater.
With Federal forces in control of the city, the gates were wide open for its invasion of the Deep South, making the Battle of Chattanooga one of the most important in the war. Chattanoogans wisely collected cannonballs, shells, and other artillery left behind on local battlefields, amassing thousands of tons of metal they could use for postwar industrial efforts, which proved extremely beneficial during The Reconstruction Era and beyond.
Chattanooga has become a contemporary Southern success story because of strategic investments it’s made to protect the environment and make the most of its many attractions. Not only is it a great metropolitan and outdoorsy stop on the Tennessee RiverLine, but it is a tremendous representative of what makes the Southeastern U.S. special from food, to art, to live music, history, and much more.