If you travel the backroads of the Southeast, you may occasionally see an old barn painted with a giant sign on the side or roof that says, “See Rock City.” For almost 100 years these signs have lured adventurous tourists to visit the Rock City Gardens roadside attraction perched atop Lookout Mountain in the northernmost part of Georgia. If you listen carefully, you can almost hear generations of youngsters shouting from the back of countless station wagons, “What’s Rock City? Can we go to Rock City? I want to go to Rock City! Are we there yet?”
One of the many fanciful gates found along the way.
We may have seen the iconic signs for Rock City in our travels, but it was an Instagram post that put the fabled attraction on our radar. The post showed mysterious rock formations, enchanting grottos, and whimsical fairy tale settings. Since it was just off our route north to Ohio, we decided to set aside a day to check it out.
Rock City sits on the edge of Lookout Mountain and features a fractured and tortured geography with fissures that split the rock into deep crevasses and towering spires. The name was coined by early explorers that described the terrain as “like walking down the streets and alleys of city made of stone.”
The property was owned by a land developer named Garnet Carter and his wife Frieda. While her husband was busy developing local real estate, Frieda was developing the idea of turning the jumble of rocks on the property into a botanical garden. Frieda took a string and marked a trail that wound through the rock formations ending at an outcropping known as Lover’s Leap. While workers constructed the path, she collected wildflowers and other plants and had them transplanted along the trail. The garden was supplemented with imported German statues of gnomes and fairytale creatures.
Over the years Rock City Gardens has grown in popularity and the site had continued to evolve. Today the attraction draws over 500,000 visitors a year, many of whom arrive by the busload. We arrived early on a weekday to avoid the crowds. A small waterfall greets you at the entrance and a narrow path draws you down between vertical stone walls. Green moss and ferns provide a splash of color against the cold stone. The outside world quickly fades and your imagination starts to become more open. If you look closely, you may spy a gnome peeking out from behind a rock or under a fallen tree. Might there be orcs or trolls lurking nearby?
Lover's Leap
One of the highlights of the Gardens is Lover’s Leap overlook. From this high vantage it is suggested that, on a clear day, you can see seven states. That seems a tad optimistic, and the fact that they put "see seven states" in quotations makes the claim even more suspect, but the view is spectacular regardless.
Hall of the Mountain King - Where treasure awaits - But watch your step!
Deep within the rock maze behind Lover’s Leap you will enter the Hall of the Mountain King, protected by a stone creature that has an uncanny resemblance to the character of Gollum from the Lord of the Rings/Hobbit stories. Within the Hall you find a treasure worthy of reenacting the idol scene from Raiders of the Lost Arc, and a throne fit for a Mountain King, or Queen.
A throne fit for a Mountain King - or Queen!
Another fascinating, if slightly creepy, feature of the gardens is the Fairyland Caverns. Here Frieda’s love of German fairy tales and folklore inspired her to commission an Atlanta artist, Jessie Sanders, to create magical fairytale scenes throughout the caverns. The figures and scenes are painted with fluorescent paint and illuminated with UV light to provide a colorful, if not slightly disturbing, experience. (Imagine a college dorm room in the 60s or 70s where your roommate had a trippy infatuation with Mother Goose.)
Mother Goose hosts a "glow party" unlike anything you have seen before.
Rock City Garden is difficult to characterize. Words like whimsical, mysterious, enchanting, and haunting are all accurate, but at the same time fall short. We recommend you check it out for yourself. No matter how you describe it, we don’t think you will be disappointed.
One of the many glowing fairytale reenactments found in the Fairyland Caverns.
Online reservations are recommended as time slots do fill up and you may have to wait for an open slot. But better yet, grab an early spot before the tour busses start rolling in. Large, noisy, groups may scare off the gnomes and definitely make for a less magical experience!
You can learn more about Rock City Gardens and purchase tickets to See Rock City here:
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