West Chattanooga

Rainbow Lake was built in 1916 as part of the Signal Mountain Hotel (now Alexian Village) and since that time has remained one of Signal Mountain's most popular outdoor destinations.  From the parking lot on Ohio Avenue, you'll walk alongside the golf course, then past an old spring house. At the half-mile mark, you'll come to a junction and can choose a left turn to descend immediately to the dam, or go straight to circle the lake on a 2.3-mile loop that is rocky and challenging. Whichever you choose, you'll eventually find yourself at Middle Creek at the base of the dam. The creek is the perfect spot to cool off on a summer day. Nearby, through a pretty grove of hemlocks and laurel, is a 100-foot long suspension bridge over the creek, part of the Cumberland Trail.

If you're feeling more ambitious, follow the Cumberland Trail on the south (trailhead) side of Middle Creek 1.4-miles to Signal Point. This is a rocky trail with spectacular overlooks and a steep climb at the end. You'll end up at the parking lot and can walk the half mile of road from Signal Point back to your car. From the far side of the bridge, you could follow the Cumberland Trail the other direction towards Edwards Point, or even make a loop that includes Edwards Point. The choices are limited only by your time and energy.  

Rainbow Lake Trail is perfect for hikers and families who enjoy a variety of trail, from easy gravel paths to rocky, ankle-turning trails on the optional loops. Kids seem to love going down to Middle Creek at the suspension bridge. The Rainbow Lake Trailhead is on Ohio Avenue on the edge of the golf course near Alexian Village.  The easiest way to find the trailhead is to follow the signs toward Signal Point, but continue past Alexian Village until you see the trailhead on your left.

Check out this article from the Outbound Collective to find the hidden Rainbow Falls. 

Tennessee River Gorge Trust built the Ritchie Hollow Trail with support and funding from local organizations, and with a Memorandum of Understanding with Prentice Cooper State Forest because the trail resides on their property. Grant funding was received from Rock/Creek, the Riverview Foundation, and the Benwood Foundation to hire the Southeast Conservation Corps to build the most technical sections of the trail. TRGT built the rest of the trail with volunteers from the community including Rock/Creek, the Chattanooga Hiking Club, and TVA. 

To access the trail, park at the gravel parking lot across from the Pot Point Cabin at 17805 River Canyon Rd, Chattanooga, TN, 37405, and access the trailhead just above the parking lot. Click here for a full trail map.

The Tennessee River Gorge, nicknamed the Grand Canyon of Tennessee, is one of the most unique natural treasures in the Southeast. Spanning 27,000-acres, the gorge was carved through the Cumberland Mountains by the Tennessee River. It is the only large river canyon bordering a mid-size city and is the 4th largest river canyon east of the Mississippi. Designated as a National Scenic River Trail in 2002, the Tennessee River Blueway flows through Chattanooga and the Tennessee River Gorge for 46 miles, from Chickamauga to Nickajack Dam. 

The Blueway’s unique paddling experience offers kayakers, canoeists, and paddleboarders the opportunity to visit wildlife preserves and camp primitively on public lands or stay in downtown hotels and take advantage of urban amenities. The Tennessee River flows through the heart of downtown Chattanooga’s thriving entertainment district and then continues through the high, forested walls of the river gorge. There, towering bluffs and protected forests provide miles of spectacular paddling.

When the Tennessee River widens into Nickajack Lake, it reveals its enormous scope before dropping Blueway paddlers off at the headwaters of Nickajack Dam. The scenic terrain of the Tennessee River Gorge creates a unique diversity of landforms, thousands of varieties of plants, grasses and wildflowers and a rich wildlife population. There are many ways to access wildlife viewing in the gorge: mountain biking Raccoon Mountain, paddling the Tennessee River Blueway or even climbing at the Tennessee Wall. The most accessible way to get a good overview is to hike the Pot Point Nature Trail, a 3.5-mile loop that begins at the Tennessee River Gorge Trust’s Pot Point Cabin at the river’s edge and climbs the side of the Cumberland Plateau to nearly 1,000 feet.