JIM & MICHAEL COLYER TRAVELS

Karen and I returned to Chattanooga, January 7-9, 1983, and added another dimension to our understanding of the area. We visited Lookout Mountain and its two attractions, Rock City and Ruby Falls. Rock City is just that, a lot of boulders with a path winding through them. The walk climaxes at Lover's Leap with a panoramic view. Rock City was opened to the public in 1932 by Garnet Carter.

Ruby Falls was discovered by a man named Lambert and named for his wife, Ruby. It is located within a cave inside Lookout Mountain, nearly 1/4 mile directly below Point Park. An elevator lowers people to the cave. The falls originates underground and flows into the Tennessee River.

Point Park, perched at the northern tip of Lookout Mountain, is part of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. Our time at Chickamauga Battlefield must forever cause us to associate the area with the Civil War. The battlefield is a succession of monuments and cannons. The view from Point Park is the best on Lookout Mountain.

No trip to Chattanooga would be complete without seeing the Chattanooga Choo Choo. This is a complex of old train cars and shops as they may have looked a hundred years ago. The train called the Chattanooga Choo Choo came down from Cincinnati and was the first transportation system between north and south following the Civil War.

July, 1977 - Chattanooga

I saw Ruby Falls inside Lookout Mountain. It presents a stunning spectacle, a waterfall actually within the mountain. Point Park sits atop Lookout Mountain. I drove down between school years while working at Castle Heights Military Academy. Chattanooga is about 100 miles south of Nashville.
Contact: jim@jimcolyer.com