Chattanooga is another Tennessee city that my family has not seemed to get tired of yet.
We live in Murfreesboro and it is close enough that we can make a day trip of it and sleep in our own beds that night after a full day of playing.
In September of 2025, that is exactly what we did.
We loaded up the two children (8 and 5 years old) in the car and headed Down for the Day! With our main plan being to ride the Lookout Mountain Incline railway!
Chattanooga’s always been a favorite place of ours – it’s a gorgeous city. The Tennessee River that flows through town gives it an appearance/feel which is totally unlike that of Nashville and then you have Lookout Mountain lurking in the distance.
Fall may possibly be my favorite time to visit.
I have even visited before when the leaves were changing as a fantastic hiking trip and wow do Chattanooga and the forests of East Tennessee put on an incredible show. The beautiful colors are so worth it for much more comfortable outside temperatures and an absolutely stunning display of color.
But this time it was all about the Incline Railway.
I was not entirely sure what two children, who would also be along for the ride, would think of heading straight up the mountainside.
Turned out to be one of the easiest and funnest family attractions we have ever done in Chattanooga.
We Started at the Bottom in St. Elmo
We get on at the historic in lower St. Elmo section of Chattanooga, at the base of Lookout Mountain.
Since it was our first time, this seemed the easiest place to get on board.
The lower station is located at 3917 St. Elmo Avenue, complete with a parking lot. It was simple to park the car here and we were off to a good start.
Parking is currently also cheap, the Incline lists the parking at the lower station as costing $3 for up to three hours or $5 for longer parking periods.
St. Elmo itself is worth wandering around before or after.
Around the station are cafes and restaurants and other shops, as well as an ice-cream shop right at the bottom (which, with an 8-year-old and 5-year-old, you want to know).
Even the railway itself has highlighted among the things to be found around the lower station: ‘ Hand-dipped ice cream! ’ ”
This allows it to expand upon those things, making the Incline more than just a ride up and back.
The Ride Looks Scarier Than It Feels
Important Incline Railway Information:
You might think from photographs that it was just another fairground ride.
No it is not.
At least not in our experience.
Up the side of the mountain we slowly and steadily wound. The kids were fine and I never got the drop-to-your-stomach feeling of an amusement ride.
Then you simply sit back and watch Chattanooga drop out gradually beneath your feet.
It takes about 10 minutes each way, trains currently leave each station bout every 20 minutes.
While I remember trains running roughly every ½ hour while we were there, it is currently running even more frequently.
Everything just felt so neat for me also.
They crowd in, the doors close, the cars trundle along. There are two together like this – as one ascends the mountain face, the other descends.
The cars pass around the middle, as one travels up, the other comes down.
This fact makes an Incline ride interesting apart from the view.
It is not an ordinary train.
It is actually a funicular railway, where instead of the wheels, a cable pulls up the carriages on a steep slope. Since the vehicles are counterbalanced, when one of them goes down it acts more or less as a counterbalance to help the one moving up the mountain.
And Yes, It Really Is That Steep
This railway goes a mile up Lookout Mountain with a 72.7% grade at steepest, making it the steepest one in North America, as advertised! So it is not only me climbing up the mountain.
One thing I would like to specify here:
The 72.7% grade does not mean the train is traveling up the mountain at a 72.7-degree angle.
It is just a measure of rise compared with horizontal distance, when the track is at its steepest the real angle is approximately 36 degrees.
Although, when seated inside, it still seems unbelievably steep.
You start noticing the angle on the track as you approach the top of the lift, especially when gazing back at the track behind you.
But it is so smooth and there was no danger that fear took over and none of our kids felt it was scary.
If anything, it was fun to peek out the windows and see where we would gotten to.
The View From the Top Is the Reward
When you reach the upper station. This will pull the whole trip together.
Once located on the top of Lookout Mountain, one will immediately find yourself at the observation area, which overlooks the city of Chattanooga and the Tennessee Valley.
Favorite Trip Photos Here I will be adding some of my favorite pictures from our trip.
What I really remember was looking out from up there, with my wife and kids, over Chattanooga!
Standing up there with my wife and kids, looking out over Chattanooga, was the part I remember most. It is a completely different perspective on the city.
From downtown Chattanooga feels like it is connected to the Tennessee River and the surrounding mountains.
But from Lookout Mountain, all of those come together.
Up on Lookout Mountain you suddenly see how all the pieces fit together; the panorama across the valley with Chattanooga stretching below extending all the way to hazy ridges disappearing into the distance.
It was enough, just for us, to make the ride worth it.
There’s More to Do at the Top
However, you do not need to get back on the train immediately.
There is a gift shop, a food outlet, lots of information and history and good vantage points at the top station.
It is also walking distance to Point Park (part of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park).
During the Civil War, the area around the mountain was important and was the site of the 1863 Battle of Lookout Mountain (sometimes called the “Battle Above the Clouds“).
It is important to remember this if you wish to enjoy a longer day up on Lookout Mountain as part of your ride.
The Incline does not take you to Rock City or Ruby Falls.
They are in other locales on Lookout Mountain and require transport from the Incline stations.
Thus, if you want to visit all three sites in one day, you simply must be prepared to drive between attractions.
It Worked Really Well With Kids
That was probably my biggest takeaway from our visit.
I found that the Incline Railway was genuinely easy to do as a family.
Our boys were 8 and 5 and the trip was the right length too.
Ten minutes up is plenty of time for the experience without being stuck on a train for an hour with younger kids.
Then they get to walk around the top, peer over the mountain and explore, before riding it back down.
There’s no complicated hiking involved in the main experience, either.
But that is an important asset because there are plenty of attractions in Chattanooga where you may walk a considerable distance, climb or spend many hours on your feet.
This is easily woven into a family day.
And again:
And again:
(ice cream at the bottom)
No harm in that.
The Incline Is Also Very Accessible
Also a great thing about this attraction was how accessible it is.
However, access for both manual and electric wheelchairs is available to each of the railcars, and both upper and lower stations have accessible areas.
Folded strollers may also be brought onboard.
The current cars were fitted as part of a close to S4M upgrade in 2020 which allowed more window space, panoramic viewing, heating and better wheelchair access.
That means the Incline Railway is a good attraction if you are travelling with a multigenerational family where not everyone wants to hike up a mountain.
A Little History Makes the Ride Even Better
The railway for tourists that we used today opened on November 16, 1895.
It was opened on November 16, 1895, and ever since has been carrying passengers up Lookout Mountain.
At first it ran on steam; then it converted to electricity in 1911 and its queer engineering was declared as a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark for its peculiarity.
The railway has suffered fires, survived modernisation, and serious damage in December 2024 from a rockslide following a wildlife.
It reopened again on July 14, 2025 after months of repair, only 2 months before my family visited that September.
We didn’t pause and reflect within the confines about what had happened.
Yet, it is remarkable indeed how a transportation system designed in the 1890s now carries families than workers up the same mountain 130 years later.
What It Costs
Admission prices to the tower are now:
- Adults and seniors: $24.99
- Children ages 3-12: $12.99 USD
- • Children under 2: Free with a fare paying passenger
Tickets can be booked online or purchased at either station with limited capability. The most popular times do get booked up, so if you are travelling that day, especially to go up, I should recommend.
Operating hours also vary depending on the season, so it is a good idea to check the official website schedule ahead of time than leave it until you get there.
Would We Do It Again?
Sure.
There certainly are more spectacular attractions in Chattanooga.
But the Incline Railway definitely feels distinctive to Chattanooga.
You ARE NOT seeing something that could have been in any theme park in America.
You are riding up Lookout Mountain on a railway, built in 1895, through lovely scenery to Lookout Mountain and Chattanooga below.
My wife and I loved the views.
But nobody found the ride scary.
And since Chattanooga is close enough for a day trip from Murfreesboro, we have able to experience some things in less of a major vacation weekend.
And why we kept going back.
We love the river, we love the mountains and we love hiking there when the fall colours of the trees appear.
And now it has one more Chattanooga tradition that I would add to the above.
Quick Tips for Riding the Lookout Mountain Incline Railway
St. Elmo station. Easy and cheap parking.
Book ahead if you have a specific time in mind. If you want to use popular departure times and days, they are often booked out.
Please give yourselves at least an hour. The ride is short, but you’ll want to spend time up top.
This sounds like advice, but the ride is slow, so do not worry if heights are not your strong point! It was not mine and it did not stress me. The ride is steep but not at any speed.
The cable cart in Val d’Isere (yes we did more than ski on this holiday)
Take the Kids. They absolutely loved it (at 8 and 5 years-old).
Check for accessibility needs. Manual and electric wheelchairs are permitted. Stations will welcome those with mobility needs.
The train doesn’t drop you at Rock City or Ruby Falls. You’ll still have to drive to those separately!
Save room for ice-cream on the bottom.
That was a fitting end for my family to a day on Lookout Mountain.
