Chattanooga
Tennessee, U.S.A. – Sunday, June 11th, 2023
After the first part of the trip took us through the Deep South during a spell of high temperatures and humidity, it was refreshing to wake up in Tennessee to misty skies and a more moderate forecast. Almost enough to make up for the 7:45am start time to the first experience of the day in Chattanooga: Ruby Falls.
Ruby Falls is located within Lookout Mountain near Chattanooga. The falls are located underground within a closed cave system. In 1928 a man named Leo Lambert wanted to access the caves (the original natural entrance had closed for a railway tunnel) and drilled down hoping to find the caves. As luck would have it, he did hit an open passageway. Exploring deeper through the system, he found an 85 foot tall underground waterfall. He named the fall after his wife, Ruby, and opened it as a tourist attraction. It has been named a National Historic Landmark, but remains a popular, well-advertised private business to this day.
In many ways, the cave tour is similar to ones run by the National Park Service such as Mammoth Cave earlier on this trip. Stay with the group as you walk through the passages and the guide tells you about the different formations. With plenty of rainwater soaking through, these caves have developed a lot of good ones.
But there are also notable differences. The volume of tour groups is much higher, with a new tour departing every fifteen minutes. There’s a lot more talk about Leo Lambert’s role in discovering the caves and falls than is necessary for historical balance.
And, of course, the lighting. The NPS will light the caves under its care in naturalistic shades ranging from white to yellow-white, whereas a privately owned cave tour knows what sells in photographs and will light its caves in a broad spectrum of colors that more closely resembles a Meow Wolf installation.
Of course, the falls themselves are quite spectacular.
We signed up for the “Gentle Walking Tour” offered only as the first tour of the morning. The pace is much slower with more time spent at each location; we let at least two or three groups pass us. The full tour took about two hours, which felt like the right amount of time for the length it was. Many of the reviews commented on being rushed through. Keep this all in mind when people extol the virtues of privatization, especially of our public lands.
The next stop of the morning was just down the road to take the Lookout Mountain Incline Railway.
The one mile route was originally built in 1895, and has a maximum grade of over 72% making it one of the steepest incline railways in the U.S. I enjoyed the all-glass design for the open views on the way up.
At the top is the viewpoint down on Chattanooga. On a clear day you reportedly can see seven states from Lookout Mountain, although today it was no more than two, Tennessee and Georgia, maybe three if I knew where to look for Alabama some 15 miles away.
You can also explore underneath the station where there is the motor room for the funicular as well as some historical exhibits.
Aside from serving as a tourist attraction the Incline Railway also services a residential neighborhood atop Lookout Mountain. There’s a historic park with more views overlooking the city about a quarter mile from the station, but in the interest of time I opted to catch the next car back down rather than wait for another cycle.
Lake Winnepesaukah
Rossville, Georgia
Just back across state lines is the only full-sized traditional amusement park remaining in the South: Lake Winnepesaukah, or Lake Winnie for short. The park opened in 1925 surrounding a small lake, and features two notable historic attractions at either end of its waterfront midway: the Boat Chute water ride and the Cannon Ball roller coaster. A handful of amusement park staples fill the space in between these two (including a PTC carousel manufactured in 1916) plus there’s a modern water park behind the Cannon Ball.
Immediately, there’s a lot to like about this park, from its free parking and reasonable admission price, the waterfront setting, and compact midway layout that’s easily walkable from end-to-end. But, unlike a number of traditional parks still thriving in the northeast, it’s clear that Lake Winnie has seen much better days. With a few exceptions, most of the remaining ride roster is composed of relatively newer, temporary models, many of which are already in various states of non-operation or disrepair. The removal of the only remaining Eyerly Fly-O-Plane flat ride in 2017 still stings. Even their wild mouse coaster was relocated for greener pastures at nearby Alabama Adventure a couple years ago, and I believe its plot is still unoccupied. Nearly everything outside of the water park could use a fresh coat of paint.
It made me wish I hadn’t put it off for this long and stopped by this park a decade or two earlier.
The South is increasingly identified with the economic potential of the Sun Belt, but this feels more like a forgotten corner of the Rust Belt that wound up south of the Mason-Dixon line. Nevertheless, Lake Winnie is still here and offering family fun every summer. Being at the crossroads of several states and interstates, it’s not too hard to get to and spend a couple of hours with almost guaranteed no long lines.
The Boat Chute
The only remaining mill chute ride in the United States was designed and built in-house two years after Lake Winnie opened by the park’s founders, Carl Dixon, a man with a thoroughly Southern name if ever I heard one. The ride is likewise something completely unique that you could only still find in the South.
Built on the water of Lake Winnepesaukah itself, the flume portion is very slow moving, reliant on water pumps to weakly circulate boats through the channel. It begins with a very long, dark “Tunnel of Love” style tunnel, albeit of a mustier variety no doubt home to all kinds of swampland critters and sordid stories from throughout its many years. It takes about four minutes to traverse, which with nothing inside feels much longer.
After a tiny eternity, the light on the other end finally emerges, and the boat is hoisted up a short chain lift with engineering reminiscent of the one used on the Leap-the-Dips.
The ride ends with an exclamation point by plunging down into Lake Winnepesaukah. There’s even a brief gap in the trough, allowing the boat to hydroplane across the water unaided for a second or two before the channel catches it and returns it to the station. The Boat Chute is not nearly as wet or thrilling as more modern flume rides, although it has its own unique kind of thrill in not knowing how such a water-based, hand-made contraption could still stand the test of time a century later.
Cannon Ball
The Cannon Ball is Lake Winnie’s other big ticket historic attraction, although still relatively recent by the standards of the Boat Chute, being one of a few remaining wooden coasters from the 1960s.1 The out-and-back design by John Allen and the Philadelphia Toboggan Company bears a strong familiarity to the Blue Streak at Cedar Point, including the alternating low speed hills and tall middle hill on the out run.
One point in the Cannon Ball’s favor is the retention of buzz bars and skid brakes for a true classic coastering experience that’s becoming increasingly rare. However, on the less positive side of the equation, maintenance and upkeep isn’t quite what it should be for a ride of its vintage, resulting in a roughness that’s a bit stronger than a “fun rough,” although not so much to preclude re-rides. I suspect the jostling also has an impact on the Cannon Ball’s speed, as there was relatively little airtime to be found along the course.
I come across as ambivalent on this review. Look, every wooden coaster from before 1970 is a gem, no exceptions. The Cannon Ball just happens to be one of the smaller gems, and could also use a little polish.
Other Rides
Apart from those two signature attractions, there’s a handful of other rides in the park I found worth my while, skipping most of the basic flat ride collection in the interest of time. Lake Winnie’s oldest ride pre-dates the park itself, the #39 PTC Antique Carousel built in 1916 and relocated to the park in 1968. I didn’t formerly pay too much attention to carousels and I still know relatively little about them compared to their depth of history in the amusement industry,2 but now I make sure to ride any historic carousel I cross paths with since I suspect I may come to appreciate the experience more with time. There are plenty of now-defunct coasters I passed by the opportunity to ride and I kick myself about it now.
In that spirit, the Wacky Worm was another attraction I might have skipped in my earlier years that now I’ve got to give at least one trip around for posterity. This one has been at the park since 1991.
The Tour Train is a basic CP Huntington Railroad from Chance Rides that loops around the park with a station near the entrance and another back by the water park. I rode the half from the entrance to the water park, hoping to get some shots of the Cannon Ball, although the opportunity was still limited. Even in a park as small as Lake Winnie it’s still nice to see a genuine multi-station transport ride when a simple round-trip loop route would have been easier to staff.
Despite appearances, the Alpine Way Chairlift that crosses over Lake Winnie is just a round trip ride with no station on the opposing end behind the Boat Chute. Since my main priority was photos, this gentle scenic tour suited me just fine, although the seven minute duration to cover a distance of about 600 feet and back might test some folks’ patience.
Finally, the Wacky Factory was probably the most purely enjoyable of the secondary attractions on its own merits. For most of its history this was a Bill Tracy walkthrough attraction, but was later converted to a dark ride in 2011. The art direction inside is an odd mix of 1970s blacklight flower power psychedelia mixed with the usual assortment of horror and jump scare gags, including an appearance by Leatherface. I was prepared for the worst by the faded facade outside, but the inside was well-kept if a little eclectic. I even decided to go around twice, mostly to capture a ride-through video before hitting the road to Pigeon Forge.
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