by The Rock City website declares “Fall in Love with Tennessee’s #1 Attraction!” Is it supposed to be ironic? Or are they taking shots at Tennessee’s tourism industry? You see, Rock City is located in Lookout Mountain, Georgia, which is admittedly just over the border from Chattanooga, but still not in Tennessee.
We went on a beautiful Sunday afternoon–and so did everyone else in the Chattanooga metropolitan region, apparently. We had to buy tickets for a time slot a few hours later than we had originally intended (so we filled our time with the International Towing & Recovery Museum!), and it was an absolute circus. Outside the gate were lots of people milling around waiting for their time slot, with employees screaming directions about who should queue up where.
Once inside, things didn’t improve for quite some time, as everyone is following the same narrow “Enchanted Trail” through, around, under, and over the rock formations.
And of course there were groups of people and families stopping for selfies in the middle of the pathways, and kids running rampant in every direction, and I found myself thinking about how much we had paid per ticket for this experience.
That being said, the rock formations themselves and the views from atop Lookout Mountain were quite lovely.
At the top of the rock gardens, a Rocktoberfest festival was in progress in the cafe with German band playing live and beer and pretzels on offer.
Even better, we were able to catch a Raptor Show that we both really enjoyed (run by Wings to Soar, see pictures below).
The Fairyland Caverns, full of fairy tale themed dioramas, were actually very well done. These included a giant “Mother Goose Village,” which you can see in the accompanying video. Rock City also has nighttime events lit up by fairy lights, which I imagine would also be quite lovely (though these cost even more to see).
Rock City advertises “gardens” with 400 native plant species, but I found these disappointing and not well maintained. The fact that I took zero pictures of the “gardens” tells you all you need to know. 😮
Rock City has a number of art installations throughout the trail, along with numerous events throughout the year (like the Rocktoberfest that was in progress during our visit). Of course there are plenty of opportunities to purchase food and merchandise throughout the park.
The Rock City attraction dates to 1932, and grew in popularity as the owners hired a painter to travel through the region and paint more than 900 barn roofs and walls in 19 states with “See Rock City.” These can be seen through out the area today!
