Chickamauga and Chattanooga

Preserved alongside Gettysburg, Shiloh and Vicksburg in 1890, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park preserves sites from two battles fought near this area in late 1863 which spelled what one soldier called the “death knell of the Confederacy.” While the Confederates won the first battle in September, they allowed the Union army to escape to Chattanooga. In November, the Union army broke out of the Confederate siege and sent the Confederate army further south, establishing a new supply center in Chattanooga that paved the way for Sherman’s march to Atlanta and the sea.

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The entrance to Point Park is rather ornate and resembles the Army Corps of Engineers emblem

Our Visit. I visited Chickamauga and Chattanooga NMP in September as part of a visit to Chattanooga

Our Weather. 60s and sunny

Overall Impression. This park is really two separate and distinct parks. The southern park in Georgia, which protects the site of the September battle, is much more of what one expects from a Civil War Battlefield. Like Gettysburg and other major battlefields, the positions of the armies and their movements are well marked and chronicled. The centerpiece of the northern park in Tennessee is Point Park which marks the positions held by Confederates in the siege of the city and part of the diversionary “battle above the clouds,” but not the major battlefield of the Union breakout which is now covered by the city of Chattanooga. Point Park offers beautiful vistas, picnic areas, and long hikes down Lookout Mountain. Both pieces of the park are worth visiting but offer the visitor a very different experience.

Visiting. If you’re pressed for time, decide on which of the two pieces of the park you’d like to visit. If you’re looking for a beautiful and peaceful outing, Point Park and Lookout Mountain are probably a better choice. For more of an historical experience, the Chickamauga Battlefield is definitely the way to go.

The battlefield visitor center is home to the Fuller Gun Collection with hundreds of vintage weapons

Chickamauga Battlefield

Touring the battlefield by car takes about 2 hours. In this time, you’ll be able to walk through the visitors center, drive to each of the 8 sites, and take some brief jaunts around the battlefield. Start at the visitor center where you can get a map, talk to a ranger/volunteer, and see several nice exhibits. I definitely recommend pushing the button on the LED map of the battlefield as it does a great job orienting you to the battlefield before your tour, and the Fuller Gun Collection is pretty amazing too. After visiting the artillery at site 1 near the visitors center, everything else is accessible via a drive starting down LaFayette road (a feature dating back to the 1863 battle). The sites are set up roughly in order of the action. The NPS has a recorded narration for each site that can be accessed via a phone number posted on signs, and I found the narration helpful as it described the action in terms of “in front of you” and “on the hill to your right.” Like Gettysburg, there are monuments on both sides which mark the spots where forces from the states were arrayed on the battlefield, most of which date back to the 1800s. The battlefield is wide open, so each site offers the opportunity to hike just about every inch, though the sites do a good job of orienting you to key places without much of a walk.

The impressive Wilder Brigade Monument which marked a key Union stand on the southern portion of the line

The most prominent monument on the battlefield is the Wilder Brigade Monument, a castle-like tower which can be climbed via 130 stairs to a sweeping vista on the roof. This marks the site where a Union mounted infantry brigade held off what appeared to be a complete Confederate route of the Union’s right line by using new Spencer repeating rifles. The last site on the tour is Snodgrass Hill on Horseshoe Ridge which marks the last action of the battle where Union forces pushed back waves of Confederate advances to allow the Union army to retreat nearly intact to Chattanooga, setting the scene for the November battle. In addition to the 8 tour sites, a took a slight detour up Dyer Road to get closer to the headquarters site of the Union’s General Rosencrans who was disgraced in the battle and soon replaced by General Grant. There are several side roads which offer excursions to other sites such as Gen Bragg’s headquarters on the Confederate side.

The terrain atop Lookout Mountain was a formidable place to fight the Battle Above the Clouds

Point Park

Point Park sits on the promontory of Lookout Mountain and a basic visit takes about an hour. Unlike the main battlefield, this is a fee area. If you’re just interested in learning a little about the battle, you can stop by the visitor center which is just outside the main entrance to the park and the fee area. Inside the park are sweeping vistas of Chattanooga and a couple short loop trails. Cannons mark the spot of Confederate fortifications in place for the “Battle Above the Clouds,” a diversionary attack that forced the Confederates to spread their attention while Gen Grant’s Union Army made its main assault on Missionary Ridge to the northeast. The main loop goes around the New York Peace Monument and is more park-like. A separate trail leaves the loop to make another loop around the more wooded areas. While the Ochs Memorial Observatory at the end of the loop was closed when I visited, this trail still offers a great look at the fort-like terrain of this section of the mountain. If you have the stamina for long flights of metal stairs, I recommend hiking to the base of the limestone cliffs where you’ll see what Union forces had to scale to take the top, lucky for them after Confederate forces vacated their positions. For those so inclined, the base of these stairs is also a trailhead for much longer trails along both flanks of Lookout Mountain.

The stairs inside the Wilder Brigade Monument on the Chickamauga battlefield are winding and dark in spots

Suggestions. If you decide to hike up the Wilder Brigade Monument, it is DARK in spots, especially near the bottom–a smart-phone flashlight will help you through the worst. I also don’t recommend taking small children to the top as the walls and rails are short. If you drive directly from Chickamauga Battlefield to Point Park, your phone/GPS will likely take you on some pretty scary roads when you get to Lookout Mountain, specifically residential streets not quite wide enough for two cars and left turns onto busy roads where you have really poor visibility in either direction. I recommend selecting a route that takes you on the more major roads. Parking atop Lookout Mountain is also at a premium, and most parking is either marked “resident only” or is pay parking. Beware, the pay parking spots aren’t very clear, so look around for signs or kiosks telling you what to do to avoid getting booted or towed.

Nearby Towns Fort Oglethorpe (GA), Chattanooga (TN)

Other Nearby Attractions Trail of Tears National Historic Trail, Tennessee Valley Railway Museum

Official NPS Website Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park

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