SUNSET ROCK
A bluff ledge over the Tennessee River valley, reached by 3.2 miles of climbing from Cravens House.
Where it is
- Distance
- 3.2 mi
- Climb
- 469 ft
- Shape
- Out and back
- Effort
- Moderate
Sunset Rock is a sandstone ledge on the west face of Lookout Mountain, and the run up to it is the reason to go rather than the view alone. From Cravens House the Cravens House Trail climbs to the Bluff Trail, which contours along the base of the cliff line with the valley dropping away the whole way. Out and back it is 3.2 miles with 469 feet of climbing.
You can drive to the top and walk down a hundred yards instead. Do not. Parking at West Brow is one hour maximum and the Park Service is blunt about it: there is very little parking for Sunset Rock, and they ask people not to park in the street or in nearby yards. Start at Cravens House, where there is a real lot, and you get the climb as well as the ledge.
The Bluff Trail is closed to bikes, which makes it one of the better places around town to run without listening over your shoulder. It is rocky and rooted in stretches and it runs right along a drop, so it is not a place to be looking at your watch.
Point Park at the summit is a separate ticket, ten dollars, card only. You do not need it to run to Sunset Rock.
Exposed cliff edge along the Bluff Trail. Swimming is prohibited parkwide on National Military Park land under 36 CFR 3.16(a)(1).