Start on Signal Mountain. Exit Highway 27 at Signal Mountain and follow US-127 N/Signal Mountain Road towards the top. Take a sharp left at the CVS pharmacy and follow signs to Signal Point, just a few blocks from Alexian Brothers. Overlooking the Tennessee River Gorge with picnic tables and a rugged hiking trail, the locals call this hotspot "The Brow."
Take a riverboat tour. The Southern Belle Riverboat starts Fall Leaf Cruises on October 20, hosting morning, lunch and dinner outings up to five times a day. The Tennessee Aquarium has also launched an area sightseeing program, touring visitors throughout the river gorge on a 70-passenger catamaran. An aquarium naturalist joins the crew to point out Chattanooga's protected habitats, wildlife and historic points of interest.
Take the Incline Railway to Lookout Mountain's Point Park. Built in the late 1800s by John Crass and the Lookout Mountain Incline Railway company, it is the steepest passenger incline in the world and takes visitors on a 10-minute trip from the base of the mountain within walking distance of Point Park, on the 3,000 acre Lookout Mountain Battlefield. The historical markers, monuments and breathtaking view of the city below are well worth the trip.
Take a ride on the Tennessee Valley Railroad. The Missionary Ridge Local trip is a 55-minute tour through a Civil War era tunnel, and the Chickamauga Turn is a six and a half hour tour to the Chickamauga-Chattanooga National Military Park (including an hour layover). Perhaps the best for sightseeing, however, is the Hiwassee River Rail Adventures, which travels to the top of the Great Hiwassee Loop east of town and a bridge 62-feet above the tracks.
