Suicide cliff holds major appeal

Rock City Gardens was started by Frieda Carter. She enjoyed the natural wonders of the area so much, her husband Garnet thought people would pay to see it. The two carved out paths with pine needles, posted name signs on interesting rock formations, added flowers, and let loose an army of German gnome statutes to watch over the place. Their roadside wonderland opened to the public in 1932.

Garnet Carter had been living on Lookout Mountain since the age of 11. Previous to the Depression he was building a residential neighborhood and golf course called Fairyland. In order to give golfers something to do during the greens construction, he set up a smaller course. People had such a ball with it, he decided to franchise his idea for Tom Thumb courses. It marked the beginning of a miniature golf craze that would leave the 1920s on all fours.

Rock City Barns Beginning in 1935, Rock City took a somewhat original approach to advertising their attraction. Barns throughout the United States were painted with the phrase "See Rock City." The Carter Family The campaign encompassed over 900 barns spread throughout almost every state. Those who added their barn to the promotional program usually ended up with free passes and a plethora of souvenirs.

Visitors to Rock City today are given cards to better identify formations that have been deemed important. The trail starts on a deep downward grade through the "Grand Corridor" and into the "Needles Eye" and winds back over itself exiting atop a deer park inhabited by fallow deer that have been incestuous there since first being brought from Europe in the 1930s.

At the peek of the mountain the path divides. While the meek may choose to walk a rock bridge to the next point of interest, daredevils can take a swinging suspension bridge over a 180-foot drop. Both meet back up at "Lover's Leap." This is the highest point of the gardens, which crosses a 90-foot waterfall to a flag court where it is possible to view seven states. The name "Lover's Leap" was derived from a Cherokee version of Romeo and Juliet in which two partners meet their death at the bottom of the cliff.

After you catch your breath, grab a drink and some souvenirs at this midway point, it is back on the path and into the "Fat Man's Squeeze." Further on is the one-ton "Balanced Rock" and "Rainbow Room" which is a stone corridor implanted with colored glass windows that look out over Chattanooga. It is like viewing Tennessee through holiday Saran wrap.

See Rock City

To the right and left of the walkway are holes in the walls just big enough to stick a head or two through. Inside them are rock rooms where fairy tales come to life; Goldilocks runs from a grimacing Poppa Bear, Jack climbs an ultraviolet beanstalk, Hansel and Gretel pose angelically beside a witch. All the statues seem somehow disproportionate.

Garnet Carter began drilling holes into the cave passage in 1947 to create "Fairyland Caverns." His aspirations to bring childhood delusions to life would not end there. Some seventeen years later "Mother Goose Village" was added.

Mascot Rocky

Inside a near pitch black room, a large table is cramped with neon bright creatures representing many of the other fairy tales that did not make it into the caverns. Black lights bear down on a castle centerpiece atop a hill. Along the base, the likes of Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater, The Three Pigs and Little Miss Muffet frolic in their dayglow best. A rail runs the table parameter etched with the associated rhymes. The room is deadly still aside from the whispers of adults and children who murmur the lines as they shuffle single file around the assemblage.

The dream world ends abruptly as "Mother Goose Village" spits you into a final cave with a gnome carnival and then into the blinding light of day. Visitors pause to regroup and gather their thoughts before abandoning the strange underground world for the sanctity of their cars.

See Rock City at Christmas

Rock City Gardens embodies a certain living nostalgia in roadside culture not often witnessed in other places. The property is still run by descendants of the Carter family and little has changed from what it was 70 years ago. They estimate 500,000 people visit each year. It surely tops Back on Tack's list of favorite distractions.

If you are ever driving through the South and only have time to see one thing, definitely See Rock City!

Update 5/03
As part of a "Scorch the Smokies" tour, Back on Tack will be returning to Rock City this June. Our intention is to build a virtual Enchanted Trail on this site later in the year.

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