The Prentice Cooper State Forest is 25,000 acres of land around the Tennessee River gorge about 10 miles west of Chattanooga, Tennessee. It has 35 miles of hiking trails and free camping.
Josh and I wanted to get in a solid hike in the area and chose to take the dirt road to the Snoopers Rock trailhead. From there we could check out “Snoopers Rock” and hike to Natural Bridge and back. This would be a 6 mile round trip distance.
We parked at the trailhead and followed a spur road for a 1/4 mile and discovered that we could have driven down and parked right there at Snoopers Rock. Snoopers Rock is a rock overhang with gorgeous views of the Tennessee River gorge.
There were quite a few folks at Snoopers Rock since it was so easily accessible. After soaking in the unearned view for a moment. We then followed the signs towards Natural Bridge.
This route was much less traveled. The trail followed the river from on high. There were many trees down across the trail which made it more fun rather than difficult. After a mile or so we reached somewhat of a hiking crossroads in the forest.
We followed the path to Natural Bridge of course, while making a mental note to come back and check out these other trails. The hiking thru this area felt like we were hundreds of miles from civilization as it was quiet and secluded. We passed several rickety wooden bridges and soon we arrived at Natural Bridge.
We hiked over the rock bridge and down under it and then back up the top. It was impressive and a lot of fun pretending to rock climb.
After playing around a bit we hurried back and made much better time on the return trip. This was a great hike and a lot of fun. I highly recommend the Prentice Cooper State Forest if you are visiting Chattanooga and want to get in some nature too. rk
The trail continues downward into a valley where the trail crosses the creek via wobbly drawbridge! This is where the creek is dammed creating a very cool waterfall!
Once crossing the drawbridge the trail ascends steeply up the other side of the valley with rocky steps. There were a lot of trees fallen down here, presumably from the recent snow storm! After leveling out briefly past some tall cliffs, the trail continues upwards past and around a natural arch with a small waterfall flowing through!
From here the path levels out and continues on towards the overlook. We found a nice spot to sit on the cliff across from the old folks home on the other side of the valley.
We left from here with hopes of grabbing some more Velo coffee before they closed with a short detour down a side trail to a shelter for camping in!
The hike back went by quickly and we hurried to Velo, got some coffee and went up to lookout mountain for a peanut butter sandwich picnic dinner!
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