Much has changed over the last 75 years when more than 400 painted red barns advertising Rock City dotted roadways across the south. With the proliferation of super highways and other avenues of promotion, there are only about 40 barns left.
Yet, a trip to Rock City near Chattanooga remains so much the same (in a sublimely comforting way) as it did in our childhoods.
Back in the 1930s and 1940s, going to Rock City was a thrilling adventure. Automobile travel was the new happening thing and a day-trip to the natural wonder made for an over-the-rainbow date.
For my own grandparents, Rock City was among their favorite places during the post-depression era, along with Silver Springs in Ocala, the Bok Towers, the Rainbow River Springs and Daytona Beach.
A day pass that was $1 in 1945 is now $25, but here’s a few rockin’ good reasons why it’s sooooo worth your while.
It’s a garden of eden
Without a doubt, its beauty is a mighty splendid thing. There’s more than 400 varieties of flowers and delightful grandeur in every direction. The rock formations themselves are a geological wonder, with naturally-created (and safety-enhanced) pathways. These make the man-made rocks of Disney World look like wanna-be’s.
Oh and that view. Do whatever that thing is you do to set aside your acrophobia for a bit.
A cure for STRESS – no day drinking needed
About as many people visit Rock City in a year as they do the WDW parks in a day. It’s uncomplicated. You park just steps from the entrance. You meander along a 4100-foot winding trail from one glorious view to another.
Benches and rocking chairs beckon you to chill out along the way.
It feels so uncrowded that even the pitiful folks who didn’t get the so-called chip implant might come out of there unscathed.
And not a single Magic Band or a screaming toddler in sight. (Warning: but there were too many folks wearing that horrid Tennessee orange and Salt Life shirts). #rolltide
fairyland caverns
Talk about not evolving! And we’re glad they didn’t. The enchanted entrance to Fairyland belies what lies on the bizarre path ahead.
Intricate black-lit sculptures of fairy tales are both fascinating and completely nightmarish. But in a very good way. I think.
Let’s see another one. 
Okay, one more. This stuff is wild.
the journey itself
While Chattanooga’s downtown has been revitalized and has become a hipster riverside weekend destination, Rock City is on the road less traveled.
After passing (or experiencing) the famed Incline Railway on the Georgia-side of Chattanooga, you’ll navigate an OMG beautiful and twisting road to the top of Lookout Mountain. It’s one of my favorite short, scary drives. Kind of like the holy-crap Road to Hana (Hawaii). Or the Tail of the Dragon (North Carolina).
One of the most instagrammable places in america
Swinging bridges, natural rocks, random red doors in the sky, and vast mountain views. Imagine heaven combined with Alice in Wonderland. Which is how heaven should be anyway.
Come into the present moment. Discover all that’s there for you. Live in the now. ✨ #breathtakingview #RockCity #LookoutMountain #georgia #tennessee #rockcitygardens pic.twitter.com/sz9SmjURAg
— Angela Faith (@afaith8) June 21, 2019
effortless delights of nostalgia
When it comes to time travel, Rock City has nailed it. It takes you back to 1940, 1950, 1960 – anywhere you want to be. Anywhere but 2020.
Oh the romance
Forget the Viagra. You can feel the lust in the breeze.
But it’s not a hook-up place like Disney Springs, the Florabama bar, or a Baptist Sunday School class. I think it’s the perfect date place and is sure to cast a spell on your object of desire. Why not steal a kiss or get engaged with a view of seven states? And if that fails, well there’s always Lover’s Leap.
Related: Georgia’s Newest KOA is a Blue Ridge Mountain Gem
