Chattanooga is a nice little city surrounded by nature
Chatt Tips:
Get outside! Be sure to take advantage of all of the nature activities in and around Chattanooga.
Expect a lot of paid parking—even in brewery parking lots.
On a road trip? Nashville and Knoxville are each about 2 hours away—check out my Nashville guide here and Knoxville guide here!
Adventures & Ales Top Recommendations:
Oddstory Brewing: The best brewery in town, by far. Oddstory has two locations—their original taproom that has a full food menu and dog-friendly patio and The Greenhouse that has a beautiful space, taco truck out back, and is dog-friendly inside. They have great specials and they also have cocktails and wine.
Pax Breu Ruim: A great beer bar that has a legit selection available. They are dog-friendly inside and located right near the original Oddstory taproom.
Mean Mug Coffeehouse: A great coffee shop with locations downtown and on the Northshore. They have coffee, breakfast, lunch and chill vibes. I was very impressed with my massive biscuit sandwich that was only $6.
Timberroot Rustic Retreat: I booked a cabin through them on Airbnb and enjoyed my stay. It was a cute and cozy cabin with a hot tub and communal fire pit. It was only 10 minutes to downtown by still surrounded by nature—though there is some street noise.
The Classic Tourist Spots Actually Worth Visiting:
Cloudland Canyon State Park: This is a great park just across the border in Georgia. It is about 30 minutes from downtown Chattanooga and worth exploring! There is a $5 entrance fee to the park. They also have camping, yurts, and cabins here.
I chose to combine the Cloudland Canyon West Rim Loop and Cherokee and Hemlock Falls Trail which was 5.5 miles long with 1,180ft of elevation gain and took just under 3 hours. The Rim Loop was pretty boring—there were a couple of viewpoints but they were not as nice as the viewpoint at the parking lot. The waterfall trail was nice with two large falls, but be aware there are a lot of stairs on this trail. It also connects to the Sittons Gulch Trail.
Ruby Falls: An underground waterfall tour that it lit up. It is touristy but cool.
Walk the Market Street Bridge: This pedestrian friendly bridge connects downtown and the Northshore. Coolidge Park on the Northshore is a nice spot for bridge views. Grab a coffee from Provisions at The Edwin Hotel right before the bridge for your walk!
Sculpture Fields at Montague Park: A 33 acre park with sculptures to wander around outside. It is free and a nice activity.
Other ideas:
Wanderlinger Brewing Company: An average brewery with a solid food menu including build your own grilled cheese. Their parking lot requires payment.
Hutton and Smith Brewing Company: A brewery with a very unique tap list just down the block from Oddstory’s Greenhouse. Dog-friendly and nice folks.
Cherry Street Brewing: An average brewery with a wide variety of beers. They have a food menu and two different taproom spaces—the left side is more of a restaurant and the right side is a casual taproom. Cherry Street is located on the Northshore across the river from downtown. They also have two locations in Georgia.
Rock City Gardens: An “enchanted trail” where you walk through rock formations. It is touristy and a bit odd. You can see 7 states from the midway viewpoint which is neat. Dog-friendly.
Tailgate Brewery: An average brewery with locations across Tennessee. I had really bad service at this brewery and would recommend exploring the other spots in Chattanooga ahead of this one. They have a dog-friendly back patio and pizza menu with sports bar vibes. Their parking lot is paid.