Rock City

Rock City is a complex of pathways threading through a vast, jumbled rock formation. It’s located on Lookout Mountain a few miles south of Chattanooga. Here’s the general idea,weaving through rock chasms with ornamental trees and shrubs enhancing the walk.

Approaching the top we have a rope bridge to cross, or a solid path for the vertigo sufferers.

At the top is a viewpoint where seven States are visible on a (very) clear day. Of course you take their word for it.

Here you can see what a precipice the top is. There’s even a waterfall to add to the tourist brownie points.

Many parts of Rock City are enhanced by cuddly gnomes, lots and lots of them. “Enhanced” is a debatable description, but I’d go along with that if I was allowed to bag a few along the way. Ideally with a shotgun (scattergun) but, in these politically sensitive times, I’ll happily settle for rocks. If management realised the potential here, they'd be selling the rocks for $1 each.

Descending via this staircase is not for the claustrophobic. No ledges even for the gnomes. It gets even narrower, so it’s also not for size XL and over either.

Rock city was opened in 1932 by Garnet and Frieda Carter. Frieda laid out the paths and gardens, and Garnet was the promoter. Frieda was also into European folk lore, particularly gnomes. So she definitely wouldn't have been selling rocks.

But how to attract visitors to what was then a remote mountainside? His solution was advertising, and he did it by employing a painter to negotiate with farmers to paint on their barn roof, where the barn was suitably visible, the lettering “See Rock City”. Altogether, he painted this simple slogan on over 900 barns, from Michigan to Texas. The venture prospered.

A unique place and worth the tortuous mountain drive in the motor home.

 

On Monday April 15th we leave for Fredericksburg, Virginia, to see Claire and family. It's a two day journey with an overnighter at Camping Walmart.