Whether you’ve lived on Signal for life or you’ve just arrived, chances are taking a trek is one of your favorite pastimes. The mountain has long been one of the most popular hiking destinations in the Chattanooga area.
Signal Mountain Weekly asked local residents as well as director of Signal Mountain-based Outdoor Adventure Training Adam Noll for tips on the best spots to hike on Signal. At the request of our Facebook fans, the following conglomeration also includes directions to trailheads. Several of the quickest routes to some of the mountain’s popular landmarks run through private property, so those routes have been left out.
Rainbow Lake Trail
This is a beautiful site no matter what time of year it is and is probably the mountain’s most well-known and well-traveled hiking spot. To get there, take the first left when taking Signal Mountain Boulevard up the mountain and follow the signs to Signal Point until you get to Alexian Village. Instead of turning left, keep going straight on Ohio Avenue until you see the trailhead on the left by the golf course.
When you get to Rainbow Lake, you will find two segments of the Cumberland Trail. One leads to Signal Point; the other to Edwards Point and on to Suck Creek Road.
Signal Point to Rainbow Lake via the Cumberland Trail
Take Signal Mountain Boulevard toward Alexian Village and follow the signs to Signal Point. Be sure to check out the breathtaking view of the Tennessee River Gorge from Signal Point before descending down the fairly steep trail to Rainbow Lake. You’ll find another stunning overlook along the way, which is a little more than a mile long. It will be a fairly easy walk to get back to your car through Old Town from the Rainbow Lake trailhead.
Signal Point to Mushroom Rock via the Cumberland Trail
This fairly strenuous hike – Noll’s favorite (he calls it the down and up) – is approximately 11.6 miles roundtrip, he said. Once you get to Rainbow Lake, you will start climbing the plateau and pass Lockhart’s Arch and the overlook at Edwards Point before finally reaching Mushroom Rock. To make it a shorter 5.6-mile hike, turn around at Edwards Point.
Mabbitt Spring trail to Falling Water Falls
Hidden away in Walden, this 4-mile trail leads to one of the area’s most beautiful waterfalls, but its overlook can be rather dangerous and the trail is unmarked, said Noll. To get there from the front of the mountain, follow Taft Highway until you pass Lynn’s Market and make a right onto Fairmount Pike. Take the first right onto Key Hulse Road, then the second left onto Wilson Avenue. Make a right onto Glenway Avenue and the trailhead is on your left.
Green Gorge Trail
Noll said this is one of Signal Mountain’s best and least-used trails.
“There’s no way to get lost, because it’s completely surrounded by neighborhoods,” he said. “It’s one I encourage people to go to all the time.”
To get there, turn east onto Palisades Drive behind CVS, then go north onto Green Gorge Road. The trailhead will be on your left.
Shackleford Ridge Park trails
Follow the blue and yellow trails for a 2-and-one-quarter-mile circular hike, said Noll. Turn on Sam Powell Drive next to Nolan Elementary and follow the signs to the parking area and trailhead.