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Experience Chattanooga
Call 203-623-4519 or 423-8344197; or visitexperiencechattanooganow.com.
➥ This local guided hiking service, launched in 2019, offers six tours year-round and nine during the summer, with the most popular being the seven-hour “Best of Tennessee” tour that combines both panoramic mountain views and a waterfall visit. The tours include professional photography that clients can access privately online.
Rock/Creek Adventures
1530 Riverside Drive. Call 423-6431524 or visit rockcreekoutfitters.com.
➥ In late 2019, Chattanooga’s homegrown outdoor retailer began offering guided tours, building on the 35-year legacy of Rock/Creek, which has since been sold and headquartered in Arkansas. But the business’s mission remains: to get people outside. To that end, its “Adventures” offshoot offers biking, paddling and hiking tours led by a local expert and ranging from 2-3.5 hours. Equipment rentals are also available.
Southern Belle Riverboat
201 Riverfront Pkwy. Call 423266-4488 or visit chattanoogariverboat.com.
➥ For a trip up the Tennessee River that’s a throwback to the paddleboat days, the Southern Belle riverboat offers 1.5-hour narrated sightseeing, lunch and sunset cruises as well as slightly longer dinner cruises and seasonal fall color cruises.
For the arts
Public Art Chattanooga Visit publicartchattanooga.com.
➥ Chattanooga’s scenic beauty is complemented by attractive art installations dotting the downtown district and beyond. Commissioned sculptures and large-scale murals punctuate the cityscape, enlivening buildings and roadsides and serving as conversation starters. A map is available online, but a good place to physically start is the Bluff View Art District at the top of Second Street. The Tennessee Riverwalk, a growing pedestrian path along the river, is accessible from within the district, and the Bike Chattanooga public transit system offers stands of daily rentals nearby — a good way to tour the installations concentrated along the Riverwalk. The paved path leads to St. Elmo on one end, where it will soon offer an easy connection to Lookout Mountain trails, and loops to Camp Jordan on the other end.
Hunter Museum of American Art
10 Bluff View. Call 423-267-0968 or visit huntermuseum.org.
High atop an 80-foot cliff ➥ overlooking the Tennessee River, the Hunter Museum is built around a historic mansion near the site of a former iron smelting plant known as the Bluff Furnace. Its collection offers a comprehensive overview of American art, from the Colonial period to the present day, and includes works by Thomas Cole, Mary Cassatt, Helen Frankenthaler and Andy Warhol, among others.