After a long hiatus away from visiting parks, the Beavers finally got a chance to take a day trip up to the Chattanooga area over Spring Break. Tiffany’s mom Dawn (whom we call DD) was also able to join us.
We had been in Atlanta (where DD lives) for Easter, and then we set out the next day up I-75 for a fun-filled day learning about the Civil War, the Trail of Tears, caverns, and waterfalls.
The first stop was Chickamauga Battlefield in northern Georgia, just south of Chattanooga. Here, in September of 1863, the Confederate and Union Soldiers fought, both sides vying to compete for Chattanooga, a strategic railroad junction that would help give control to the surrounding area. Here at Chickamauga, the Confederates ultimately won this battle. Ulysses S. Grant then became the Union general in control of the Army, and he would help lead the Union to victory a couple of months later in Chattanooga. This helped pave the way for Sherman to sweep through the South on his Atlanta campaign, March to the Sea, then up through the Carolinas. We’ve learned about these at our trips to Kennesaw Mountain and Rivers Bridge. It’s fun to see how these places all connect.
At Chickamauga we first stopped at the Visitors Center, where we looked around the museum and the girls finished up their Junior Ranger booklets. Teagan learned about different types of guns, and Sage got to see a couple of cannonballs that had gotten lodged in tree trunks. Tiffany realized that a nickname her grandfather had given her has its roots in the namesake of a hill located on this battlefield.
After this, we went on a driving tour of the battlefield, which was nice with the audio tour that accompanied it. With two kids in tow, it allowed them to do whatever in the car, and the adults could listen as we saw the different sights. Interesting things from around the battlefield are the sheer quantity of monuments erected to the different divisions from all over. The Union adopted the symbol of the acorn, as it symbolized being strong as an oak tree.
Along the way, we stopped to enjoy a nice picnic lunch at the picnic tables located along the route. We were going to climb the 85-foot Wilder Brigade Monument, but the door was locked unfortunately. As we drove around, it was interesting getting to imagine the fighting happening all around us. We heard a couple of names belonging to South Carolinians (Kershaw and Manigault).
While I myself am not super interested in the ins and outs of all the war tactics, it still is interesting being in a place and imagining the horrors that occurred here. The Chickamauga River has been referred to as the ‘River of Blood’. Around 4,000 people lost their lives, and another 30,000 people were wounded, captured, and/or went missing. The only Civil War battle with more casualties was Gettysburg.
Earlier in the day, as we drove up I-75, we passed New Echota State Historic Site, which is the site of the former Cherokee capital of New Echota. If you pay attention to the place names in this area, it is obvious that this was Cherokee territory. As we left the park at Chickamauga, we drove up Lafayette Road, which is also the route of the original Trail of Tears from the 1830s, when the Cherokee were rounded up and sent out west to live in their new home.
As the road continued, we passed through Rossville, GA, whose namesake is John Ross. He was chief of the Cherokee during the time of removal, his wife dying along the way. His house is still extant in Rossville, and it is more than 200 years old. We stopped for a quick viewing. John Ross is an interesting character that I want to read more about, and his name will be important at one of our stops later in the day.
As we entered Tennessee, Lookout Mountain began to tower over us. The summit of that mountain was our next stop, which is where one unit of the Chattanooga section of the military park is located. Once we made it up, we saw an impressive painting of the Battle of Lookout Mountain, painted by James Walker in 1874, which is 13′ x 30′. The Union General Joseph Hooker (the focal point of the painting) apparently commissioned the work and paid Walker $20,000 for it (source).
But as impressive as the painting was, what’s more impressive are the views from Point Park, which is the area of the park right at the northern tip of the mountain. It’s $10 for adults to enter, but it’s worth it. Within the park are some artifacts, memorials, and other buildings to hike to. If you go, take advantage of the views to see where some of the other fighting would have occurred, such as at Missionary Ridge and Orchard Knob. Also prominent is Moccasin Bend, an area of land in a bend in the river that looks like a Native American moccasin. We would briefly visit this area later in the day.
From here, we went partway down the mountain to what the girls had been looking forward to this whole time – Ruby Falls. This is not part of the national park, but I’ll still briefly include some pics here. The cavern and waterfall was discovered in the early 20th century and named for the discoverer’s wife Ruby.
Within the caverns are different formations of various shapes. Of course, there were stalactites and stalagmites. There were also some that were columns, I guess where the bottom and top have joined together. My favorite were some of the ones that had a wavy shape to them.
But of course the thing you’re all there to see is the falls. What we see is about a 90-foot section of a series of cascades that is fed by the rainwater (which means that the flow can vary dependent on recent precipitation, including a recent closing when it rained non-stop for days and water flooded part of the cavern).
Growing up, I always imagined Ruby Falls to be a tourist trap. And yes, there are a lot of tourists there. But it was really cool. It at times felt rushed (but they offer a tour that’s twice as long for those who want to spend more time). We were in the cavern for between an hour and 1.5 hours, a tour guide helping us along the way. There were probably 30 or so in our group. I’m glad I went.
At this point, our bellies were getting hungry, but I had one more stop I wanted to see. Remember John Ross from earlier? His family operated a ferry on the Tennessee River in downtown Chattanooga. (Side note, you may remember from our blog about the Obed River that I realized that the name Tennessee itself is Cherokee. The name Chattanooga is from a Creek word meaning something like ‘rock coming to a point’, referring to Lookout Mountain.)
The Ross family ferry operated from what we call Ross Landing today. Before removal, it helped ferry people from Cherokee country (on the south side of the river) to the United States (on the north side). But in 1838, this was where the Cherokee, having walked the Trail of Tears, perhaps from Chickamauga where we were earlier that day, boarded a boat to head west to modern-day Oklahoma.
Today at Ross’s Landing, there are some signs, some Cherokee artwork with information about it, and a water feature (that perhaps only runs in the summer–it was not running when we were there). As a linguist, I especially enjoyed seeing the Cherokee script along with its transcription and translation in some of the information.
But alas, hungry bellies means we needed to find food. We returned to Edley’s BBQ, right across the river from Ross’s Landing. We ate here on our previous trip to Tennessee, and we left just as satisfied this time. It’s a great place to eat with kids. The kids meals are just $5, and there is a place to play.
Before heading back to Atlanta, I drove onto Moccasin Bend for a quick photo opportunity. I knew that there was a trailhead here that led out to an old ferry crossing called Brown’s Ferry. Here, the Cherokee that didn’t leave via the Water Route back at Ross’s Landing would have crossed here and travelled overland all the way to Indian Territory. Additionally, this ferry crossing was also where, back in 1818, a woman named Nelly decided to escape from her enslaver to try to seek freedom. This and other stories helped this national park become part of the Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. (Read more here.)
It was a fantastic day, full of fun and learning. Check out too many images below.
Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Official Site
Beavers in the Park 