Brief Description:
This 10.4 mile hike on the top of
Signal Mountain near Chattanooga is part three in the series of hikes
which are
part of the southern terminus of the Cumberland Trail. Part
one was our hike on the Mullins Cove Loop. Part 2, is the Pot Point Loop
Trail. Today we had intended to hike the Pot Point Trail, but we changed
our minds and decided to hike the segment from TN27 to Signal Point,
since some of us had never hiked this
segment
except for the trail from Signal Point to Edwards Point. The official
signed distance from TN27 to Signal Point is 8.4 miles, but my GPS
registered 9.2 miles. This is a very scenic section of trail which is
very well maintained. The views
looking down into the Tennessee River
Gorge are fantastic and well
worth the hardships of the trail.
Length:
Though the literature says 8.4 miles,
it may be a little longer, according to my GPS. We also hiked from TN27
up the hillside to the west to the junction with another access trail and
back, an additional 1.2 miles round trip, for a total of 10.4 miles.
Difficulty Rating:
Moderate due to length
and the amount of roller-coasting
Elevation Gain:
A few hundred feet, not too bad if it
were not for all the ups and downs within those few hundred feet.
Directions to the Trailhead:
We will meet at the Park and Ride lot on the southwest corner of
Exit 25 in Cleveland at 8:30 AM, or at the Burger King Parking Lot at
the base of Signal Mountain on US 127 at about 9:15 AM.
Please let the leader know 1) if you are going and 2) where you will
join us, by no later than Friday evening at 6PM. After it is known who
is going and where people are meeting, then the leader will send out an
email (or call those without email) to confirm plans.
Trail Description:
We will start from the TN27 parking area and hike to Signal Point Point. We will
probably eat lunch at the
Edwards Point Overlook. After the hike, we will eat dinner at the
Italian Restaurant on top of Signal Mountain, the same place we ate on
the Mullins Cove hike, Pastaria.
Post Trip Report:
This being the Memorial Day weekend, we only had 4 hikers for this trip:
Rick & Brenda Harris, Steve Kidd, and Randy Morris. We parked one car at
Signal Point, then drove to the TN27 crossing of the
Cumberland
Trail. We hiked first west up to the escarpment to the
junction with the access trail then back (0.6 miles each way). Then we
crossed the road and finally found the trail down to the bridge across
South Suck Creek heading towards Signal Point. It was quite hard to find
the trail because of a lack of trail signage along the road and the fact
that the trail leaves the road several hundred feet down the road from
where the one trail sign is present on the road. This definitely needs
to be fixed to prevent consternation by future hikers. We also met there a man and his 10 year old son who were heading off on a weekend backpack
trip going our same direction. This was the boy's first backpack trip
and he looked quite excited about the prospects of a weekend with dad
out in the woods.
We hiked across the
bridge, then up onto the saddle between North and South Suck Creeks then
down to the North Suck Creek bridge. There is a beautiful campsite right
on the creek below the bridge at this point. This is the site the man
and his son planned to camp that night. The creek at this
point
looked like a great place for the boy to swim. He hopefully had a great
time. We then headed up the side of the mountain, then along the
escarpment to Edwards Point. We ate lunch on the way at a little
waterfall and at Edwards Point we gazed into the void and took lots of
pictures. We watched a couple of red-tailed hawks and other birds of
prey float on the thermals in the area. The views up the gorge and down
toward Chattanooga and Baylor School with Lookout Mountain in the
background are fantastic.
We then headed on down
the trail, dropping down to the bridge over Rainbow Creek, then back up
to Signal Point, where we had our shuttle car parked. From there we
drove the short distance to Pastaria for a wonderful Italian dinner, then
returned to our home. It was a great trip, though it was rather hot and
muggy. The mountain laurel, flame azaleas,
and rhododendron were in full bloom.
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