Rainbow Lake Trail
Ranking: Easy Pie to Moderate
Oh the beautiful state of Tennessee! Throughout my life I have traveled through and spent a lot of time in Tennessee. Although I have been to this wonderful state time and time again it got me thinking... have I ever hiked there? The answer was nope, not at all. Considering Tennessee like many states has so much to offer I was determined to venture out. The hiking scene in Tennessee is much like its music- abundant and beautiful. So after doing some research I decided it was high time I got to hiking and hiking, we sure did.
So let's get down to the business: the trails. The plan originally was to go hike the Cumberland Trail which is near Chattanooga, TN. So my friend, Lis, and I began the journey up to Chattanooga for our hiking adventure! Well needless to say we got lost. When I say we got lost I mean we couldn't even find the trail-head. For some reason the GPS kept taking us to random locations all over Signal Mountain. We knew that the trail-head was somewhere nearby but we couldn't figure out where it started. Almost by accident we found the Signal Point Trail which was incredible.
When you arrive at this trail, if you are driving, there is a parking lot with a trail map about the route off to the side. Now I will be the first to say we didn't hike this trail. We only went to the lookout viewing area to see what it was. As we were standing there some people literally popped out of the woods to the right of the viewing area. It was odd not going to lie to you here, but after looking around we realized that the trail was there. So I cannot say if we were at the start or finish of the trail but needless to say it was still a great surprise. I would recommend it if you are just wanting some beautiful shots and don't want to hike at all. This spot is for you.
After we stopped and had a photo shoot we kept it moving. You see we came to hike for the day so we were not satisfied quite yet. So we just drove around until we found another trail: Rainbow Lake Trail. Now folks we finally came across something concrete. We found an actual trail-head sign! Overjoyed, we parked our car and ran on over to check it out. For all Signal Mt trail information I would recommend you stop here at this site. Not only did it have the entire map, but it also was the clearest cut path thus far we had seen all day. I would recommend you take a picture like we did so when you're out hiking you at least have something to reference. We discovered that the Cumberland Trail that we were looking for was a hike-in trail (from our location) so we came up with a new route idea. New game-plan: Rainbow Lake Trail to Edward's Point Overlook Trail then Cumberland Trail.
First up is the Rainbow Lake Trail. If I'm being honest here, this trail experience is my all time favorite I have ever completed. My reasoning for this new found love is due to the fact that this trail offers so much and more. There is something there for almost everyone. It has rock faces, nice easy paths to follow, and even a swimming area! Furthermore this trail is very child and dog friendly. As we were soaking our feet, there were dogs swimming and kids playing all over the place. So if you are looking for a nice family outing, this trail would do the trick. Now that being said, I would consider this to be an easier hike. If you are looking to do some serious hiking- follow the trail markers to Edward's Point Overlook. This was our second stint of our journey.
The Edward's trail starts off as a stairmaster workout. Once you cross a bridge you will see trail signs that tell you which way to go. From there you can select where you want to go, like we opted for Edward's. This hike was tough. If you like to take the stairs on slippery terrain then let me tell you, you will be in trail Heaven. At times my knees were almost touching my chest the further we went. Although it is intense, the hike itself is a great workout and well worth it. The further out you go, you will discover beautiful rock faces and cliffs throughout. Also, there are some amazing viewing points along the way. Sadly since we ended up starting so late in the day we didn't finish our goal of conquering Cumberland. (We only completed partial). I plan to go back and re-hike this trail again, so you can expect an update for Cumberland Trail at some point!