The Cloudland Trifecta: Cloudland Canyon, Lookout Mountain Pizza, and Hang Gliders at Sunset
gorge and waterfall views, legit pizza, and catching thermals
Hello! The first Trifecta I’ll share on here is where we first got the idea to put activities into groups of three. Since we have guests visit us often, there are some regular must-sees that we show them, so my husband coined the term “Cloudland Trifecta” to summarize three spectacular activities in the same area that all add up to A Very Perfect Evening.
Distances and Costs
We discovered the Cloudland Trifecta several years ago, and most of it was a happy accident fueled by curiosity. All three stops are within a total of ten minutes of each other and about 32 minutes from downtown Chattanooga.
Parking at Cloudland Canyon is $5 per vehicle and a 13” pie at Lookout Mountain Pizza costs $14-19 each. (Two adults can split a pizza and still be very satisfied.)
Stop #1: Hike at Cloudland Canyon State Park
You’ve got 64 miles worth of trail options here, and any of them will be winners. The Overlook Trail begins a very short, paved walk from the parking lot, and you don’t have to do the full one-mile walk; you kind of just peek out at whichever lookouts interest you and gawk at the gorge below. Sometimes you can see a gorgeous waterfall across the canyon.
If you have a bit more pep in your step, head to the Waterfalls Trail. Yes, plural. You’ll see two if you do the whole thing (and take 600 steps each way!) It’s two miles out-and-back but I recommend skipping Hemlock Falls if you want to avoid the harder hike. Cherokee Falls is smaller but more accessible.
If you have time and energy, the West Rim Loop Trail is awesome. When you’re at the Overlook Trail, if you squint you’ll see a tiny little overlook on the other side of the canyon. If you ask yourself, “How on earth does someone get there?” the answer is the West Rim Trail. It’s a 5-mile loop, and you can throw in the waterfalls trail as a bonus if you’re feeling wild like my mother-in-law and I did once.
Stop #2: Dinner at Lookout Mountain Pizza Company
Let me tell you some first impressions about Lookout Mountain Pizza Company that have been true every time and caused us to come back often.
On our first visit, we were surprised to see people bringing their own coolers and taking out bottles of wine to enjoy with their pizza. We weren’t wine drinkers at the time, but the message was clear: eating this pizza is an experience. (Note: They serve their own drinks now and no longer allow outside beverages.)
Expect a bit of wait for the food because they only put a few pizzas into the 1000-degree oven at a time. The staff takes their time massaging each ball of dough and topping it lovingly. The wait flies by, though, because the grounds are gorgeous. My kids have a magical time playing in the yard every single time.
When we were eating our pizza, we heard people in line being told, “Sorry, we’re out of dough.” The dough requires 32 hours to develop, so when they’re out, they’re out. Get there early. Also, double-check the hours. They’re only open Thursday-Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons. They’re not desperate for customers.
Stop #3: Watch Hang Gliders at Lookout Mountain Flight Park
If your kids run around and don’t obey you or if you have a fear of heights, this stop isn’t for you. On evenings with good weather—you can call them or check their Facebook page for updates—park at Lookout Mountain Flight Park and watch people literally jump off a cliff. There are biplanes and various kinds of gliders, as well as spectators who watch in awe.
Hang gliding isn’t the same kind of intensity and adrenaline-junkie mindset you’d expect from sky-diving. One time we watched a 15-year-old girl take off, and she was just wearing normal clothes and basketball shorts. People who hang-glide want to enjoy nature and fly like birds…and they actually do. One hang gliding pilot took the time to explain to us what it means to “catch a thermal”: riding an updraft of warm air to glide far higher than out started out. It’s unbelievable.
Cost: Free. Or, if you’re going to go for a flight, tandem hang gliding prices start at $149.
Here’s a video of a biplane that showed off for us.
Side Quest
Find this Fat Man’s Squeeze near the beginning of the West Rim Trail.
Takeaway: Otherworldly Longings
This takeaway is a bit spiritual, but I can’t help it. In the Cloudland Trifecta, you have one epic experience after another—gorges, waterfalls, Neapolitan pizza, sunset, flying humans!—and it gives you this weird feeling. You might’ve heard of the German word sehnsucht, which means “longing” and feeling incomplete. I would describe the feeling as a homesickness for somewhere I’ve never been. Maybe we’re meant to soar.
What do we do with feelings like that? Seek ‘em out. Why am I feeling like I was made for magnificence? Hebrew scriptures say “[God] has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”1 If eternity is written on our hearts, maybe we should figure out what that means.2
It’s just an incredible, larger-than-life evening, and I highly recommend it. All three of these areas can get crowded, so I recommend going on a Thursday night and probably not a holiday weekend. And if one part of your plan doesn’t work out, try again. The Cloudland Trifecta is one of the very best.
Let me know what I’ve missed!
Warmly,
Hope
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Ecclesiastes 3:11