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Tennessee events › Itineraries › Chattanooga Weekend
Chattanooga Weekend: a 2-day plan with 4 stops, 0 of them state parks and 4 attractions, each with admission, dog rules and hours or notes copied from the official page. 0 list free entry. Each stop has a planning estimate for time on site and the road time to the next stop; drive times from four cities are in the table when the stop is in our file.
- Days2plan, then adjust
- Stops4each with a source
- State Parks0official park pages
- Free Entry0as the page states
Trip Kit
Plan It With Your People
Pick a start date, then send the plan to your group chat, put every day in your calendar, or open each day as a route in Google Maps.
Someone sent you this trip. It is set to the dates they picked.
The aquarium on the Tennessee River.
Day at a glance: about 3 h at the stop. Leave at 9:00 a.m. and you finish around 12:00 p.m., before meals and the drive to and from where you sleep.
Tennessee Aquarium
Chattanooga, Hamilton County · Attraction
A riverfront aquarium in two buildings, River Journey and Ocean Journey, with an IMAX theater next door.
- Plan about
- 3 h (our estimate)
- Arrive about
- 9:00 a.m. (our estimate)
- Priority
- Essential (our pick)
- Admission
- Adult $39.95 (covers both Aquarium buildings); Youth (ages 4-17) $29.95
- Hours
- Sunday-Thursday: 10:00am-7:00pm (last entry 5:00pm); Friday: 10:00am-5:00pm (last entry 3:00pm)
- Dogs
- Pets are not allowed inside. Service animals (dogs and miniature horses trained for tasks) are welcome;
Checked October 30, 2026. Official page
Three Lookout Mountain stops close together.
Day at a glance: about 3 h 45 min at the stops plus 19 min on the road between them, 4 h 4 min in all. Leave at 9:00 a.m. and you finish around 1:04 p.m., before meals and the drive to and from where you sleep.
Lookout Mountain Incline Railway
Chattanooga, Hamilton County · Attraction
A century-plus-old incline railway climbing Lookout Mountain from St. Elmo, marketed as "America's Most Amazing Mile." Reopened after the December 7, 2024 wildfire damage.
- Plan about
- 1 h (our estimate)
- Arrive about
- 9:00 a.m. (our estimate)
- Priority
- Optional (our pick)
- Admission
- Roundtrip: $24.99 adults, $12.99 children (ages 3-12); holiday rates may apply
- Hours
- Monday-Friday 9:00 am – 6:00 pm; Saturday & Sunday 9:00 am – 7:00 pm (listed through October 31); Last car leaves 40 minutes before close
- Dogs
- Pets are not allowed unless they are registered service animals.
Checked October 30, 2026. Official page
Point Park, Lookout Mountain (Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park)
Lookout Mountain, Hamilton County · Attraction
The Lookout Mountain unit of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, preserving the 1863 fighting for Chattanooga, with an overlook and monuments atop the mountain.
- Plan about
- 1 h 15 min (our estimate)
- Arrive about
- 10:11 a.m.
- Priority
- Essential (our pick)
- Admission
- Standard pass: $10.00 per person, good for 7 days; Annual Point Park pass: $35.00 (passholder plus three additional adults)
- Hours
- Point Park main entrance gate atop Lookout Mountain opens daily at 8:30 am; Lookout Mountain Battlefield Visitor Center open daily 8:30 am – 5 pm Eastern; closed Christmas Day and New Year's Day
- Dogs
- Pets welcome in the park, leashed at all times; owners must dispose of waste. Only service animals allowed in the visitor centers.
Checked October 30, 2026. Official page
About 11 min by road (4 mi) from Lookout Mountain Incline Railway
Ruby Falls
Chattanooga, Hamilton County · Attraction
A guided cave walk in Lookout Mountain that ends at an underground waterfall, reached by elevator.
- Plan about
- 1 h 30 min (our estimate)
- Arrive about
- 11:34 a.m.
- Priority
- Essential (our pick)
- Admission
- Cave Walk to the Waterfall: adult $29.95; child (ages 4-12) $19.95; senior (65+, ID required) $28.95; ages 3 and under free; offered daily; Adults Exclusive Cave Walk: $29.95, ages 15+, select days
- Hours
- Not confirmed on the page we read
- Dogs
- Not confirmed on the page we read
Checked October 30, 2026. Official page
About 8 min by road (3 mi) from Point Park, Lookout Mountain (Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park)
More Stops If You Have Time
Harrison Bay State Park
Harrison, Hamilton County · State parkFree Entry
Activities the park lists: biking, birding, camping, fishing, golfing, hiking, marina.
- Plan about
- 1 h 30 min (our estimate)
- Priority
- Optional (our pick)
- Admission
- Free: no access fee at any Tennessee state park
- Hours
- Not confirmed: the park page we read does not print day-use hours
- Dogs
- Dogs/cats/other pets permitted if leashed, crated, caged or otherwise under physical restrictive control;
Checked October 30, 2026. Official page
Booker T. Washington State Park
Chattanooga, Hamilton County · State parkFree Entry
Activities the park lists: biking, birding, boating, fishing, hiking.
- Plan about
- 1 h (our estimate)
- Priority
- Optional (our pick)
- Admission
- Free: no access fee at any Tennessee state park
- Hours
- Not confirmed: the park page we read does not print day-use hours
- Dogs
- Dogs/cats/other pets permitted if leashed, crated, caged or otherwise under physical restrictive control;
Checked October 30, 2026. Official page
Fiery Gizzard State Park
Monteagle, Marion County · State parkFree Entry
Activities the park lists: fishing, rock climbing, swimming, hiking, camping.
- Plan about
- 2 h (our estimate)
- Priority
- Optional (our pick)
- Admission
- Free: no access fee at any Tennessee state park
- Hours
- Not confirmed: the park page we read does not print day-use hours
- Dogs
- Dogs/cats/other pets permitted if leashed, crated, caged or otherwise under physical restrictive control;
Checked October 30, 2026. Official page
Drive Times From Four Cities
| Stop | Nashville | Memphis | Knoxville | Chattanooga |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tennessee Aquarium | 152 min | 374 min | 129 min | 3 min |
| Lookout Mountain Incline Railway | 153 min | 375 min | 131 min | 9 min |
| Point Park, Lookout Mountain (Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park) | 154 min | 376 min | 136 min | 13 min |
| Ruby Falls | 149 min | 371 min | 132 min | 8 min |
OpenStreetMap road routing, no live traffic, read October 19, 2026. Stops without a row are not in our drive-times file. Full table: drive times to Tennessee attractions.
Map of Chattanooga Weekend
Chattanooga Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
How many days do I need?
This plan is built for 2 days. Stops are listed in a workable order, not a promise that every one fits in your time.
How were the times worked out?
Road times between stops come from OpenStreetMap road routing with no live traffic. Time on site and the Essential or Optional label are our planning estimates, so treat the day totals as a starting point and read each operator’s hours.
Are the prices and hours current?
Each stop was read on its own official page on the date shown under it. Prices and hours change by season; use the official page link before you go.
Where are the events?
Dated events change every week, so they are not on this page. Pick your dates in the trip kit above, then open the event finder for what is on.
What We Could Not Confirm
- Ruby FallsHours, dogs not confirmed on the page we read; check the official page before you go.
- Harrison Bay State ParkHours not confirmed on the page we read; check the official page before you go.
- Booker T. Washington State ParkHours not confirmed on the page we read; check the official page before you go.
- Fiery Gizzard State ParkHours not confirmed on the page we read; check the official page before you go.
- Road times between stops come from OpenStreetMap road routing (OSRM), read October 30, 2026, with no live traffic, closures, ferry waits or seasonal road status; real trips can take longer, and the trip kit’s route buttons open current Google Maps directions.
- Time at each stop, the Essential or Optional label and every arrival time are our own planning estimates, not figures from the operators. Arrival times assume a 9:00 a.m. start and no meal stops. We did not check each arrival against that stop’s opening hours, so confirm hours on the official page.
- Map pins are the park’s own printed coordinates, or for an attraction a Census geocode of its street address or an OpenStreetMap point (see its place page). They are not verified entrances or parking areas; confirm the entrance on the official page before you drive.
Sources
- Tennessee Aquarium (operator page)
- Lookout Mountain Incline Railway (operator page)
- Point Park, Lookout Mountain (Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park) (operator page)
- Ruby Falls (operator page)
- Harrison Bay State Park (state park page)
- Booker T. Washington State Park (state park page)
- Fiery Gizzard State Park (state park page)
- OSRM routing on OpenStreetMap data
- OpenStreetMap place points
Read on October 30, 2026. Road times are computed from park GPS and OpenStreetMap points without traffic. How we check: editorial standards; spot a mistake? Tell us.
Cite this page: It's Tennessee, “Chattanooga Weekend”, itstennessee.com/itineraries/chattanooga-weekend/ (updated ). By the It's Tennessee editorial team. Free to quote with attribution and a link to this page; data and tables are licensed CC BY 4.0.